


Cretaceous Coalition

by Veldeia



Series: DinoGate [2]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Dinosaurs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tok'ra, torture (but it's not that bad)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-24
Updated: 2006-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-30 23:57:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3956728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veldeia/pseuds/Veldeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months later, SG-1 returns to Dinoland. All too soon their pleasant dino safari turns into a race against time to save a dinosaur friend, and from there, it only gets worse...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cretaceous Coalition

"Now, since the last weeks have been difficult enough for all of us, your next mission will hopefully prove to be more rewarding," General Hammond began the briefing promisingly.

Jack thought it was a bit of an understatement to say that the last weeks had been difficult. Both SG-1 and the entire SGC had been running from one crisis to another. From freak alien data downloaded to Jack's head to a mad old alien swapping bodies with Daniel, from a dying Apophis left at their mercy with the Devil knocking at the iris to invisible aliens trying to take over the base...

Then again, it was all business as usual. This job came with more risks than any other on the planet. The things they could achieve were greater as well. No pain, no gain, like the clichÈ said. Though right now, Jack would definitely welcome a mission with slightly more gain and less pain. He raised his eyebrows at Hammond, waiting to hear what he had to offer.

"Doctor Jackson, I'm pleased to inform you that your requests concerning P4X-215 have finally been accepted. You're scheduled to embark at 0900 tomorrow morning, so you'll have plenty of time to get briefed and acquainted with your mission specialist today."

"P4X..." Jack frowned at Daniel. He thought he could actually remember the planet that designation stood for. Months and months had passed since their visit to that world, and it had been a while since Jack had given any thought to it. "P4X-215, as in Barney's world?"

Daniel beamed at him and nodded. "We're going back to Dinoland. Finally."

Jack wasn't exactly sure he'd call that an easy or particularly rewarding mission. The first and only time they had visited the world, they'd barely made it back. They'd been captured by a bunch of Goa'uld-dinosaurs and their goons, and they'd only managed to escape with the help of an unusually friendly dino, and an uprising that'd begun when Teal'c had won some weird traditional ritual race. 

They had no idea how things were on the planet now. Despite the fact that the mission had left Daniel very sick, beaten and bruised, he'd been anxious to get back there to learn about the current situation. Jack would definitely not want to see him get tossed around by a Tyrannosaur again. At least they knew what they were faced with this time, so they'd know to be more careful.

"So, who's this mission specialist?" Carter asked.

"He is one Doctor Leonard Ramsey," Hammond said, checking the name from his papers. "Apparently, he is one of today's leading paleontologists, and he is particularly well-known for his research concerning dinosaur behavior."

"I have heard his name before," Teal'c noted. During SG-1's first mission to Dinoland they had found out that Teal'c actually knew more about dinosaurs than the rest of them combined. "When is he to arrive?"

"Actually, he has arrived already. At the moment, he's going through the standard briefing and safety procedures. You'll be meeting him at 1500 hours."

  


* * *

  


Sam didn't know any paleontologists, but she had a stereotypical idea of one. She figured it was probably based on movies more than reality. So, she pictured Leonard Ramsey as an early middle-aged man, tanned and dressed in clothes well suited to field work.

When she returned to the briefing room for SG-1's first meeting with their mission specialist, she found a gray-haired man nearing, if not already past his sixties, dressed in a tweed suit. He looked like someone who had spent all his life in some dark back room of a museum. As a woman in the military, Sam had learned to despise all kinds of prejudice, but she couldn't help wondering if this Doctor Ramsey really was the best possible person for this mission.

Only when all of SG-1 had entered the room and taken seats, the paleontologist looked up from a stack of folders. "Good afternoon," he greeted them. Sam had half-expected him to speak in a British accent, but at least she'd been wrong about that.

"Likewise, and welcome to the SGC," O'Neill returned his greeting.

"You must be Colonel O'Neill?" Ramsey nodded towards him. "And Captain Carter, Doctor Jackson, and Teal'c?" he checked, nodding to each of them. They returned the nods in turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Ramsey," Daniel told him. "It's been months since I left my official request for a new mission to this planet, and for a paleontologist who could come with us. I was starting to think they had decided against it."

"Please, call me Leo - and no, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you. I've got a hard time trying to understand what I've read in here," Ramsey pointed to the folders. "That there's actually a planet out there, in some remote solar system, where dinosaurs - just like the ones we had on Earth, no less - still live and flourish. I must say to you, Teal'c, that your debrief is amazingly accurate when it comes to recognizing and classifying dinosaurs."

"I have studied some of what has been written about these animals. Your work was mentioned in many books."

"So, you've already went through all the lessons about the stargate, the project and so on?" O'Neill moved on from the small talk.

"I have. I even saw the gate itself, but it's still hard to believe," Ramsey shook his head. "I hear that going through it is quite an experience."

"What you hear also happens to be true, and not exaggerated at all," the colonel declared. "The planet's no piece of cake either. The dinos aren't just interesting. They've got very real claws and teeth too."

Sam heard the challenge in O'Neill's voice, and she figured he was probably having the same doubts she was. That Ramsey might not be up to this. She knew O'Neill had had doubts about Daniel as well, mostly because Daniel was a civilian and a scientist. O'Neill was probably way more prejudiced than she was, so he wouldn't be quick to accept an old man straight out of some cobweb-covered study chamber as a team member, even a temporary one.

"I know I may not look the part, Colonel, but I've got extensive field experience. Years and years in some really uninviting places. I've been on digs all around the world. Doctor Jackson, you probably know what it's like."

"I do. Still, Jack's right, there are some real risks about this mission. We almost didn't make it back last time - but you know all about that already, since you've read our debriefs. I really think it'd be a huge mistake if no paleontologist ever got to visit this world. Besides, you're probably going to be our best asset when it comes to surviving out there, among those dinosaurs. You know more about them than any of us."

"When we're talking about something like that honkin' huge T-Rex, I don't think there's a whole lot of useful advice anyone can give," the colonel didn't sound convinced. "The essential skill when it comes to those is the ability to run real fast," he added, eyeing Ramsey like he didn't believe the older man knew how to run at all.

"Jack. Remember the first mission to Abydos. You wouldn't have wanted me on the team. You figured I'd do no good and just get into trouble," Daniel reminded.

"You did get into trouble, Daniel. Anyway, I just wanted to make the realities clear here. This isn't some dinosaur theme park. This is the real thing."

  


* * *

  


SG-1 and their fifth temporary member stepped through the stargate to P4X-215 or Barney's world, as Colonel O'Neill had labeled it, after the name he had given to their dinosaur friend and ally. The sight they faced on the other side was exactly like last time. The green plant growth surrounded the gate and the ramp so thickly that the only clear area was where the vortex had caused it to disintegrate. Teal'c listened carefully, but he did not hear any dinosaurian sounds nearby.

"All right. As much as I don't like it, we're going to head towards the ruins again. It's the one place where we may find out what's going on here," O'Neill repeated their orders.

They entered the rainforest, O'Neill leading the way, Daniel Jackson and Doctor Ramsey right behind him, Captain Carter following them, and Teal'c securing their backs. What Teal'c caught of Doctor Ramsey's expression amused him greatly. The look on his face was very similar to that of Daniel Jackson when he was faced with some interesting new artifact, language or culture. Although the age difference between the two men was more than two decades, Ramsey looked just as wide-eyed, eager and excited. Teal'c could only imagine how happy the paleontologist would be when they would actually come across a dinosaur. They had a full day of walking ahead of them, so they were likely to meet many different species during that time.

They marched on for several hours without encountering any animal life at all, aside from the gigantic insects. Doctor Ramsey found them interesting, but Teal'c thought he could perceive a hint of disappointment on his face at the lack of dinosaur sightings. Yet, Colonel O'Neill's worst doubts concerning Ramsey might have been mistaken. He kept up with the rest of the team without any trouble, and did not complain once.

When Teal'c first noticed something moving in the jungle to their right, he found it promising. Perhaps the paleontologist would finally meet his first living dinosaur. However, he began to grow concerned when the sounds were repeated to their left, and then behind them. Teal'c called for the others to stop.

"I believe we are being followed. We may be surrounded already," he told them in a low voice.

SG-1 took up a defensive formation, with Doctor Ramsey in the middle, the rest of them raising their weapons towards the surrounding jungle. For a few seconds, it was completely silent. Even the typical background of buzzing insects and birds' song had stopped.

The silence was broken by the sound of several beings moving in the forest, closing in on them. Soon Teal'c saw their dark forms, little more than shadows in the greenness, about man-sized or slightly smaller. The closer they got, the more certain he grew that these were of the intelligent species of dinosaurs that ruled this planet, some of which were Goa'uld hosts.

The dinosaurs emerged from the foliage in a circle, surrounding SG-1. There were eight of them, a number that SG-1 might well be able to beat in close combat. Of course, they did not fire right away. Teal'c saw or sensed no sign of Goa'ulds in any of the dinosaurs. None of them carried a hand device either, indeed, they did not seem to wear or carry anything at all. For all he knew, these could have been ordinary dinosaurs, not intelligent ones capable of writing and speaking the Goa'uld language.

One of the eight stepped closer to SG-1. Teal'c thought the patterns of greens and browns on his scaly skin looked very familiar. The dinosaur walked a circle around SG-1, and stopped in front of Daniel Jackson. It growled a few words at him.

Daniel Jackson cast a tentative smile at the dinosaur, and replied to it in a guttural grumble.

Daniel's reaction made Teal'c all the more certain that his thoughts of the dinosaur's identity were correct. He did not actually believe in luck, but it did seem that SG-1 had met with a truly fortunate coincidence today. They had been found by the very dinosaur they had wanted to seek out, the one who had helped them before - Barney. Yet, as many months had passed and they knew nothing of the current situation on the planet, they could not be sure Barney was still on their side.

  


* * *

  


Daniel had already managed to forget how vicious the so far unnamed predator dinosaurs were. He froze at the sight of a whole pack of them approaching SG-1, stepping out of the jungle and surrounding them. When Daniel realized that these dinosaurs carried no technology of any kind, he started to grow hopeful - and when they got near enough, he recognized one of them. The very one he knew by name.

Ghhrrwuaghr - or Barney, as Jack wanted to call him - stepped out of the circle of dinosaurs, walked around SG-1, and stopped right in front of Daniel. The dinosaur greeted him with a word he couldn't recognize at first. It sounded like "daangghiich". Then he realized what it was. The dinosaur was trying to say "Daniel", as best it could.

Daniel smiled back at the dinosaur, and greeted him with "Ghhrrwuaghr", which was the nearest he could get to the dinosaur's real name. It wasn't probably all that close. Neither of them could pronounce the other's language all that well.

Ghhrrwuaghr raised its clawed hands and placed them on Daniel's shoulders. He had no idea how to return the greeting, so he tried to repeat the dinosaur gesture. The dinosaur let go again, and tilted his head up and down and from side to side, scrutinizing Daniel with his gaze.

"Are you well?" Ghhrrwuaghr asked in his strange, archaic version of the Goa'uld language.

Daniel wasn't surprised to hear that question. The last time Ghhrrwuaghr had seen him, he had been too sick to walk and only barely able to breathe. Daniel had recovered from those injuries months ago. He figured he'd not need to let the dinosaur know about the other near-encounters with death he had had since then - such as his addiction to the sarcophagus and the following withdrawal, and the bodyswap with the dying Machello.

So, Daniel just answered, "Yes, thanks to you," and then went on to ask the question he was most anxious about. "How are you? How are things on your world?"

"That river runs far," Ghhrrwuaghr said, or at least that was what Daniel thought it sounded like, though it didn't make much sense. "It is not safe here. Follow us."

By the time Daniel had decided that "that river runs far" had to be a dinosaur figure of speech for "it's a long story", Ghhrrwuaghr had already turned around and exchanged a few words with the others in a language Daniel couldn't understand. It was pretty amazing that these dinosaurs actually used two languages all along, one of their own, and a dialect of Goa'uld. Daniel wasn't exactly sure whether they were all bilingual. The way Ghhrrwuaghr would switch to Dinosaurian when speaking to his friends suggested that either they weren't, or if they were, they wanted to make sure the humans wouldn't understand, which wasn't an encouraging idea.

"What's up?" Jack called, stopping Daniel's linguistic musings.

"Umm, I really don't know yet. Apparently, it's a long story, and he wants us to follow the dinosaurs somewhere."

"Do we have any choice?"

"Well, I guess we do, actually, but I see no reason why we shouldn't go with them."

The dinosaurs had started moving, some of them heading out into the jungle, into several directions, a few stepping closer to SG-1.

"We should go," Ghhrrwuaghr repeated.

"He says we should go. So..." Daniel translated, and raised his eyebrows at Jack.

"All right, then. We follow Barney and friends," Jack quipped.

Ghhrrwuaghr stepped in front of SG-1 and began walking ahead. They followed him, moving out towards some unknown destination somewhere in the jungle.

"I think you were right, Teal'c," Daniel heard Leo's voice behind him. "This seems to be a new species. I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a dinosaur that would exactly match these."

"We came up with a theory that these may actually be an evolved form of some known species. That would explain their high intellect, ability to speak and other related capabilities. However, it does not explain why the other dinosaurs on this world have not evolved similarly," Teal'c told the paleontologist.

"That's definitely odd. I think we should get DNA samples and have them analyzed, maybe that would reveal something. Anyway, this new species needs to be named... Of course, it can't be official, since I know I won't be able to publish anything related to this Stargate project, not in a while, if ever during my lifetime..."

Daniel glanced at the paleontologist over his shoulder. Teal'c was wearing his familiar one-raised-eyebrow look, while Leo looked at least twenty years younger with the excitement of actually seeing living dinosaurs. 

Daniel noticed that the dinosaurs seemed to be equally excited about the humans. They hardly averted their large, yellow - but not glowing - eyes from SG-1. Most of them had never seen a human from this close, if at all.

"The name should give some hint as to their unusual origin, and their superior intellect compared to what we know of the dinosaurs that used to live on Earth. I wonder... Sapient-saurus? Sapiosaur? Or Stellasaur? On the other hand, what I've seen of their teeth and jaws really points to Troodon ancestry..." Leo went on about the name. He clearly had some knowledge of Latin, too.

Unlike the other dinosaurs, Ghhrrwuaghr didn't seem all that interested about Leo. Quite the opposite. They had only been walking for a few minutes, with Leo talking all the time, when the dinosaur stopped and turned to face the paleontologist. He hissed a few less than pleased words at the man. "Speaking must wait. It is not safe."

Daniel translated the words. Leo looked a bit taken aback by that, but kept his mouth shut from there on.

They walked through the jungle in silence. The dinosaurs hardly made any sound as they made their way through the trees and bushes. Even Teal'c, whose skills in stealth surpassed even Jack's, sounded loud compared to them.

Teal'c actually spoke up at one point, whispering a few words to Jack. "Colonel O'Neill, I do not think we are approaching the ruins. We are going in another direction entirely."

"I noticed that too, Teal'c," Jack answered, keeping his voice low. "Let's just hope the dinos know where they're going, and have a good reason for it too."

Daniel was terribly anxious to learn why they needed all this stealth. Who were they so afraid of, and what was going on on this world? Hopefully Ghhrrwuaghr would let him know once they reached their destination, wherever that was. Unless SG-1's former dinosaur ally had switched sides and they were being lead to a trap, and Daniel was just too dumb to understand that.

After hours of walking at a faster pace than what SG-1 would've usually kept, Ghhrrwuaghr and the rest of the dinosaurs stopped.

"From now on, step only where I step. Be very careful," the dinosaur told Daniel, and he repeated it to the others in English.

They advanced much more slowly, in single file behind Ghhrrwuaghr, tiptoeing their way around roots and rocks just like the dinosaur did. Daniel couldn't see the other dinosaurs anymore. They probably knew their way around well enough so that they had no need to go on this slowly.

"There are countless traps around us," Teal'c noted after a while, offering a good explanation to their change of pace. Daniel looked around, but he could hardly spot any. Maybe that odd shape there among the trees? Or that smooth branch there? He wasn't much good at this stuff. The dinosaurs were apparently really good at it, if it'd taken Teal'c this long to notice the danger.

"Seems we might be approaching wherever we're going," Jack muttered.

They stopped again in front of a green wall, a thicket so dense that Daniel couldn't see how they could get through it. Ghhrrwuaghr crouched low, near to the ground, and pushed his way through a certain part of the plant growth, which seemed to give in quite easily. He disappeared into the bush.

Jack shrugged at Daniel, and went in after the dinosaur. He seemed to get through without any trouble, either, so Daniel followed him, and heard Leo enter right after him.

They found themselves in a dim, green tunnel traversing the thicket. There was just enough space for a human or a dinosaur of this one particular species, crawling or crouching very near to the ground. It wasn't very long. 

On the other side, they met another green wall that gave in easily, made their way through it and stood up. There were less trees around them, and the jungle seemed artificially sparse, as if the plants had been cut away - and they probably had. They had been turned into shelters, canopies rigged between trees. There were other dinosaur-made things around as well, such as tables and ropes with drying fish and meat hanging from them. Several fires were lit in circles of stones. This was a dinosaurian settlement of some sort, maybe a camp.

It was a large area, and the green wall of thick plants that they had traversed didn't surround all of it. On one side, Daniel saw a wide jungle river, and on the other, two large rocks, half-hidden by several thick bushes and trees. He thought he saw dinosaur sentries standing between them, but they were hard to discern, just a few small, dark-green figures amidst the green.

Ghhrrwuaghr had run ahead to speak to some of the dinosaurs in the camp. Now he returned to SG-1, who were still standing in front of the green wall, gaping at the unusual camp.

"Welcome," the dinosaur said. "Now it is safe to talk. You are among friends."

Daniel had barely finished translating it to the others, when Jack told him to "Then ask Barney what's going on in here!"

Of course, Jack wouldn't have needed to tell him, since that was what Daniel had wanted to ask all along. "Who are we hiding from? What has happened on your planet?" he asked.

"There have always been those among us who have challenged the traditions and questioned those who rule us," Ghhrrwuaghr began his answer - the proverbial river that ran far, apparently. "When you arrived, we finally saw some proof that we may indeed be right, that the traditions do not hold, and that the rulers can be challenged. When your friend won the Remembrance of Choosing, there was a great riot. Prince Rrragrathssh overthrew his father. Many were loyal to him, but some of us wished to be completely free of these rulers who have come from the stars long ago."

"So, you turned against the prince?" Daniel wasn't exactly sure he had caught every word and understood it all.

"Not at that time. We stood aside and waited. The followers of the prince and those of his father fought each other, and many were slain. The aftermath took many days. We waited, and made our plans. We spoke to those who were hesitant, and asked them to join our cause. We built this hideout in secret. There were many of us, but still, in the end, not enough. We chose Rrragrathssh's first Great Hunt as our time to act. We attacked him, but his guards and followers were too many, and we were forced to flee."

"When exactly did this take place?" Daniel asked, only realizing after he'd said it that he had no idea how the dinosaurs measured time.

"Two cycles of the moon have passed since. We have been hiding here for most of that time. The prince and his followers do all they can to find us and slay us all, so we must be very careful. We are still hoping to overthrow the rulers one day, but it is very difficult. We have some agents in the Great Temple of the Rulers. They bring us news and seek to find new supporters for our cause. We patrol the forests looking for those who have been cast out and may wish to join us. We try to come up with plans, but we are weak and the ruler is strong."

"We can help you," Daniel told the dinosaur. They had liberated several worlds from Goa'uld rule before. They should do it here as well. He could imagine that it wouldn't be easy to convince Jack about it, let alone Hammond, but Daniel would try all he could. "We will help you free your world," he repeated.

  


* * *

  


Once Barney had finished explaining things to Daniel, he lead SG-1 deeper into the camp. Daniel translated Barney's story as they walked. It really was something. Jack was surprised to hear that SG-1's short visit on the planet had had such an impact.

Barney took them to a table under one of the canopies. There were no chairs, so they stood around it. It seemed the dinos didn't really care for chairs. The table was laden with fruits and nuts and dried meat.

Doc Ramsey was positively excited about the food. "Look at this! They're - They're not carnivores anymore, they're omnivores, just like humans! It does make sense, but I never expected... I really need to get a closer look at their teeth!" he went on and on. Though his voice was different, the way he spoke was just like Carter when she got into explaining about some technology, or Daniel going on about some culture or rock or whatever. Scientists. No matter what they studied, they were always the same.

"So, these dinos are rebels?" Jack asked Daniel to make sure he'd understood the story correctly. "We're at the camp of the locals who resist the Goa'uld rule?"

"That's it, long story short. So, we need to go back to the gate, call Hammond and ask for help."

"You mean, help for getting rid of the Goa'uldosaurs? Daniel, you can't expect Hammond to give us enough manpower to storm that maze-temple-place. We don't know how many dinos we're up against. We know nothing about the defenses there, except that the dinos can close doors to trap people in. That's not a lot to go on, and even if we had more..."

"That won't be a problem! I'm sure Ghhrrwuaghr - Barney, that is, and the other dinosaurs here, know almost everything about the temple complex. If they don't have the exact number of hostile dinosaurs, then maybe their contacts who're still at the temple can find out."

"No, but... Daniel, no," Jack looked the younger man in the eye. This was hardly the first time Jack got into a moral debate with Daniel. The truth was that Jack actually agreed with Daniel in this, but he knew it just wasn't going to happen. He hated smashing Daniel's idealism. "Daniel, the point isn't whether we can do it. The real point is, there's nothing in it for us. Dinoland is Dinoland, no matter who rules it. This Goa'uldosaur who rules here has never been a System Lord, he has no ships and doesn't even know about the gate. He poses us no threat whatsoever. Wasting manpower and resources to get rid of him just makes no sense."

"But... God, Jack, you can't think like that! 'There's nothing in it for us' - that's just wrong, and completely besides the point! Countless innocent beings are forced to live under Goa'uld rule, and we can free them. Of course we have to do it!"

Jack shook his head. "It's got nothing to do with what I think. It's not about right and wrong. It's all about what the people at the Pentagon think. They won't authorize a massive operation that won't actually give them anything."

"But we've got to do something!"

"We can go back to the gate and call Hammond. We should contact the SGC anyway, to let 'em know we haven't been eaten yet. I just don't want you to expect too much. Hammond's going to tell you exactly what I told you now."

Daniel crossed his arms, let his head droop and stayed silent.

Now that Jack and Daniel had come to a conclusion of sorts, Ramsey looked up from the table and spoke up again. "Colonel? If I may suggest. I didn't come here to overthrow a dinosaur prince. I came to study these animals. Maybe we could spend some more time in the rainforest, to try and meet more dinosaurs, of different species?"

Oh, great, Jack thought. So, the Doc wanted to see the sights. As if the debate with Daniel hadn't been enough, he'd need to start explaining things to Ramsey as well. "Now, look, Ramsey, we came here to get intel - to find out what's the current situation. Getting lost and eaten in the jungle isn't a part of the plan. Besides, the dinos say it's not safe, with the evil prince Goa'uldosaur and his goons out there to get 'em."

"No, you look, young man," Ramsey began. Jack couldn't help snorting at that. He definitely wasn't young anymore, not even compared to Ramsey. Well, maybe the Dino-Doc was ten-ish years older than him, but no more than that. "I came here to study dinosaurs. It's what I do. If we're going to leave this camp anyway..."

"Guys, wait, just wait a sec," Daniel put in, raising a finger for silence. "There's no need for this. I think we can easily do both. Go to the gate and see some dinosaurs."

He walked away from the table, to talk to a dino. Of course, it had to be Barney, though Jack had a hard time telling the dinos apart. As far as Jack knew, Daniel only talked to Barney. A few growls and grunts later, Daniel returned.

"There, that's settled. Ghhrrwuaghr says that we should take a guide. He doesn't believe we can find our way back on our own. And the guide can take us to some relatively safe places where Leo should be able to spot more dinosaurs. Some paths, drinking places and so on," Daniel told them.

Ramsey smiled at him. "That's great. Wonderful. Thank you, Daniel."

"All right," Jack agreed. That was probably the best compromise they could get. "So, Barney's coming with us?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, he's going to introduce us to a friend who speaks Dinosaurian-Goa'uld too. Apparently, not many of them do. Barney can't come because he's off to meet an agent from the temple. So, if you have any questions about it, now would be a good time to ask."

  


* * *

  


SG-1 stayed in the camp for an hour or so. Sam didn't have a lot to do, so she, Teal'c and O'Neill ended up standing around the table, eating and staring at the dinosaurs. Ramsey had sat down to sketch dinosaurs in his notebook. Daniel spent most of the time deep in a growled conversation with Barney. Apparently, he was trying to explain where SG-1 came from, but it wasn't easy when the dinos had never heard about the stargate.

When Daniel and Barney were done talking, the dinosaur introduced them to their guide, who was slightly smaller than he. The guide's name sounded no different from Barney's real name to Sam.

O'Neill clearly had the same problem, since he was quick to ask, "Okay. Teal'c, do Barney's friends have names, anyway?"

"They do, but I do not think 'BJ' or 'Baby Bop' are suitable names for this dinosaur," Teal'c answered, his face and tone as serious as always. "Perhaps Denver would be appropriate. He is also the star of a television show."

"Denver. That works. Daniel, tell Denver that we're ready to go."

Daniel growled at the dinosaur, who pointed towards the green wall with his head. They followed the dinosaur to the natural barricade and made their way through the hidden tunnel in it, into the dense, wild jungle outside the camp.

"So, we go straight to the gate. We can see the sights later," O'Neill added, Daniel translated it again, and the dinosaur started jogging ahead. It was moving a lot faster than a marching human. SG-1 didn't have any trouble keeping up with it, but Leo kept lagging behind. Half the time, it wasn't because he was older or less fit, but because he'd stopped to gaze at some footprint on the ground, or a plant, or a giant butterfly.

The planet was amazing when it came to plants and animals, but it didn't really offer anything of interest in Sam's field. Actually, the only strange thing was that it was perfectly Earth-like. The atmosphere was an exact match. The planet orbited a star that was of the same spectrum as the Sun, same age and same size. The climate was identical to the tropical regions of Earth. The only thing that clearly revealed they weren't on Earth was the moon, which was significantly smaller than Earth's. It was as if whoever had brought the dinosaurs here had wanted to put them in an environment as near to the original as possible.

Why the dinosaurs were here and who had brought them was still a mystery, and, to Sam, the most interesting thing about the planet. She hoped Leo might be of some help in solving it. At least he could give an exact dating as to when these particular species of dinosaurs had lived on Earth. His idea of getting DNA samples from them was worth trying as well.

To Leo's disappointment, Denver the guide was so good at his job that they met no other dinosaurs on their way back to the gate. Or then again, maybe Denver's presence was the direct cause to it. He was a pretty menacing meat-eater. The peaceful plant eaters would probably do all they could to stay away from him.

When they reached the exact place where Barney and his friends had caught SG-1, Denver stopped. He had no idea where the gate was. Luckily, SG-1 did. After a short whispered conversation and a few glances at a compass, they were able to find their way back to the gate. Once there, Daniel quickly dialed home.

Denver started pacing around restlessly at the odd sounds when the chevrons locked. When the gate opened and the vortex lashed out, the dinosaur jumped back and hid in a thick bush. It took Daniel a good few growls mixed with soothing English to get him back again.

The call to the SGC went just like Sam had expected. O'Neill explained the situation and suggested that with backup, they could help the dinosaurs overthrow the Goa'uld. Hammond answered that as much as he'd like to help the dinosaurs, he had to say no, because there was no way they could justify such use of resources. Daniel spoke up passionately, trying to convince the general like only he could, but it was no good.

"Doctor Jackson, I am very sorry, but unless you can come up with a plan that allows us to free the dinosaurs with minimal risks and without casualties, my answer is still no. SGC out."

Daniel shook his head at the empty ring of the gate. "We'll come up with a plan. Once Ghhrrwuaghr returns, we're going to get the news about what's going on in the temple. The prince doesn't even know we're on the planet. We'll take him by surprise."

"Before we do that, I'd very much like to get to work. So, how about we go and find some dinosaurs?" Leo put in, sounding both more irritating and irritated than ever before. Sam didn't blame him for that. He had every reason to be annoyed. He'd probably not expected to get caught in the middle of dinosaur politics and human moral debates.

  


* * *

  


"Astrosaur wouldn't work, would it?" Doctor Ramsey asked Teal'c in a low tone as they walked on, following Denver again. The dinosaur had promised to take them to a place where they might see most of the animals that lived in the area.

"I do not think it would," Teal'c answered him. The paleontologist had apparently been thinking about a suitable name for Barney and Denver's species ever since they had first met the dinosaurs.

An odd, melodic howl cut the air. Denver kept going, ignoring it completely, but SG-1 stopped.

"We have heard this sound before. It is the call of the Parasaurolophus," Teal'c noted.

"Parasaurolophus? Great," Doctor Ramsey whispered. "By the sound of it, it's pretty near, too!"

He was about to head towards the source of the sound, but Denver growled at him and gestured towards another direction. Teal'c thought he said that they would see the animals better from where he was taking them. Daniel Jackson's translation confirmed this.

Denver lead them up a steep hill. The vegetation grew lower and more sparse as they climbed. Teal'c could see bright sunlight ahead, an area that wasn't green. They were approaching the top of the hill. When they stopped, he saw that they had actually reached the edge of a steep cliff that fell to the surface of a sizable lake.

"If we are careful, we will not be seen," Denver told them.

They crouched close to the ground, and pushed aside some plants to get a clear view.

Teal'c had never found use for the world "unearthly" before. Here, it felt fitting. There were several dinosaurs in the lake below, among them two Parasaurolophus-individuals, whose hooting they had already heard. Numerous creatures moved around on the shores around the lake, some fully visible, others only pushing their head through the leaves to reach the water. Teal'c could count at least seven different species, from some horned Ceratopsian he could not name to a herd of Maiasauras. Doctor Ramsey had produced a notebook, and was scribbling rapidly.

"Hunters seldom come here. There are too many animals, and they are too big. They make no difference between the large hunter-animals and the chosen people of the rulers. I would not survive down there," Denver explained. "There are other places such as this. We call them Shelter Waters."

"Well, what do you know," Colonel O'Neill noted when Daniel had repeated it all in English. "They call themselves the chosen people?"

"Indeed. And I believe 'large hunter-animals' must refer to large Theropods, such as Tyrannosaurs," Teal'c added.

"It would be amazing to actually see a living Tyrannosaur..." Doctor Ramsey said without looking up from his notes.

"No, it wouldn't," O'Neill answered, his voice unusually cold. "And you're not going to see one. I swear to God, there will be NO Tyrannosaurs on this damn dino safari."

  


* * *

  


Daniel found it odd that other members of SG-1 had trouble telling the dinosaurs apart from each other. Grruarch-Denver was entirely different from Ghhrrwuaghr-Barney. They looked different, their voices were different, and their personalities as well. Where Ghhrrwuaghr was friendly but more of a no-nonsense, straight to the point type, Grruarch was soft-spoken and a bit shy. Daniel asked the dinosaur about his age, and Grruarch admitted that he was still young. Fifteen of this world's years, though Daniel had no idea what that was in Earth years.

They couldn't speak a whole lot when they were out in the jungle. They all knew perfectly well that it wasn't safe out there. They walked as silently as they could, and did all they could to avoid being seen. Even the plant eaters could turn out to be very dangerous if they got too agitated. Most of them were more than capable of defending themselves with horns and tails.

In the end, their dino safari, like Jack called it, went quite well. Of course, there was the inevitable afternoon rain, which left them all soaked. Daniel had known to expect it, but he still hated it. Then, Leo got too near to a herd of ostrich-like dinosaurs, which ran away in a frenzy, almost trampling SG-1. Afterwards, all he said was that he was sorry he hadn't been able to identify the species, which could have been Avimimus, or Gallimimus, or possibly Ornithomimus. Jack had looked like he was ready to strangle Leo, but he had just settled for a very, very cold stare and a warning that they'd be tossing the paleontologist back through the gate in a flash if this ever happened again.

Their second close call was when they had just managed to climb on top of a rock which gave them a view over an often used path. Grruarch uttered a low warning, and pointed towards an area of the jungle ahead of them, on the other side of the path. They froze and stared and waited. Daniel couldn't hear anything at all, but finally, he spotted shadows flitting among the thick plant growth. Shadows that looked a lot like Grruarch, but weren't his friends. They were some of those loyal to the ruler. SG-1 waited for a good while for the hostiles to pass, pressed close against the rock, rainwater running down their backs.

"I have not seen them this close to our home before," Grruarch said when it was safe again. He was clearly taken aback by the near encounter. "I am not sure what this means. I must tell the others. Come, it would be good for us to return now."

Their way back to the camp was uneventful, except that it was starting to get dark. They had spent all the day walking around. Daniel found himself yawning. He noticed that Leo looked tired too, despite the wide smile that had been on his face ever since they'd seen the first Shelter Water.

"Thank you, Grruarch," Daniel said to their guide once they were back. "I have only one more question for you. We can build our own shelters for the night, but where should we place them?"

"I shall ask the elders, wait here," the dinosaur answered.

Soon, he returned to let SG-1 know that they were free to choose nearly any place they found suitable, but preferably in the area closer to the boundaries of the camp. Jack picked a spot near to the river, and declared that even though they were on friendly territory, they'd keep watch all night.

Daniel was just going about setting up his tent, when he spotted a dinosaur approaching him. It was Grruarch again. 

"Daanniach," the dinosaur growled its Dinosaurian version of Daniel's name. "There is something I want to show you."

Daniel followed the dinosaur to one of the canopies, out of the pouring rain. There, on a low table, were clay bowls with a dark substance in them - it was hard to see what it was in the dim evening light. Daniel could also see some sort of sticks with sharp bone ends, like short arrows, some chisels, hammers and stone slabs. This was the scribes' hut, it seemed.

"Ghhrrwuaghr told me that you could read our writing," Grruarch said.

"Not all that well, really," Daniel answered truthfully. "When's Ghhrrwuaghr going to be back, anyway?"

Grruarch stepped from one foot to the other, expressing his unease over the matter. "He should have come already. Yet it is many leaps to the meeting place. Perhaps there were delays. He should come soon."

Daniel nodded. "So, you wanted to show me your writing?" he gestured at the table.

"Yes. And this," Grruarch said, reaching to pick one particular stone tablet in his clawed hand. "Ghhrrwuaghr said you would wish to see it."

Daniel took the tablet and squinted at it in the near-dark. He couldn't quite make out the inscription, so he shone his flashlight on it. Grruarch had already seen their flashlights when they'd started setting up camp, but he still stepped back. Daniel murmured "It's okay" to the dinosaur, but didn't lift his eyes from the writing.

The text on the stone slab was divided into three sections, written in two different scripts. The uppermost third was in hieroglyphic Goa'uld, the two lower ones in the cuneiform-like Dinosaurian writing. But there seemed to be an odd similarity between the Goa'uld text and the Dinosaurian one right below it. Could it be that this was the Dinosaurian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone?

"Do you know what's written here, Grruarch?"

"It is the Great Decree of the Ruler, first in his language and his writing, then in his language but our writing, and once more in our language and our writing."

Daniel's guess had been a correct one. The tablet had the same text in Goa'uld, both in the normal writing and in the Dinosaurian one, and below those two, in the real Dinosaurian language that Daniel still hadn't learned. It was incredible - and might offer him a way to find out more about the true Dinosaurian language.

"Thank you, Grruarch. Thank you very much," Daniel said. "Is it all right if I stay here to read this?"

"Of course it is, Daanniach."

He found a small rock on the ground near the table and sat down. Placing the tablet on the table, he grabbed a notebook and a pen and began working on the translation. He didn't feel even remotely tired anymore, he was way too eager to get this done.

Matching the Goa'uld hieroglyphic and the Goa'uld written in a Dinosaurian script wasn't all that difficult, but it took time. The camp around him fell silent. Sometime in the day, Leo had wondered aloud if these dinosaurs were nocturnal, like their ancestors. It seemed to Daniel that they weren't, because they had gone to sleep. Of course, some might have left the camp to go hunting. He hadn't been paying attention.

When he was about halfway through the text, Daniel took a break. He glanced at his watch, which showed midnight. He made his way to SG-1's camp to get some food. It was Teal'c's guard, and Daniel exchanged a few words with him, explaining what he was up to. Then he returned to his translating, with coffee.

He worked on, oblivious to the passage of time, until a sound from the green barricade caught his attention. He left his work, stood up and walked towards the sound. It was a soft rustling, like someone or something making its way through the tunnel. Daniel didn't think anyone could possibly find the entrance without knowing where it was, so the chances were it was a friend. Maybe Ghhrrwuaghr had finally returned. Still, Daniel decided not risk it, and pointed at the wall with both his flashlight and his pistol.

A dinosaurian head emerged from the wall. Not surprisingly, it was of the intelligent species. The dinosaur crawled out of the tunnel, but then he just stopped. Instead of standing up, he slumped to the ground. Daniel walked closer, and saw the familiar patterns in the scales of his snout and around his eyes. He also saw the bleeding cuts all around the dinosaur's body. It was Ghhrrwuaghr, but he was hurt.

Daniel put away his sidearm and ran closer to the dinosaur. He was at a loss. How could he assess an injured dinosaur? He knew dinosaur's definitely weren't mammals, but were they cold-blooded like reptiles, or warm-blooded, and did that even make a difference? The dinosaur was bleeding all over, and his breathing sounded fast and raspy. Daniel didn't need to know anything about dinosaur physiology to figure out that wasn't good.

Ghhrrwuaghr opened his eyes, just a slit, and peered at Daniel. "Betrayed," he whispered softly. Though it was just one word, it was a good enough explanation for what had happened. The agent had turned against him. The rebel party had probably ran into an ambush.

"It's all right, you're safe now," Daniel told the dinosaur, lifting his reptilian head on his lap and patting his scaly skin.

"The others... others are all dead," Ghhrrwuaghr growled. "And I shall join them soon." The dinosaur closed his eyes and clenched his sharp teeth together. His breathing sounded even more harsh - he was clearly in great pain.

"No, you're not going to die. We'll help you," Daniel spoke soothingly. "It's all right. Take it easy."

It took Daniel a while to realize that the dinosaur couldn't have understood one word he had said - he had been speaking English all the time. Still, his tone had probably conveyed the meaning.

Even though Daniel knew nothing about dinosaur medicine, it seemed to him that Ghhrrwuaghr wasn't going to make it without help. He did his best to collect his thoughts so that he could speak a few words in Dinosaurian-Goa'uld. "Ghhrrwuaghr. I will get help. Stay still," he said, and stood up.

He saw silent figures standing all around him, other dinosaurs waiting to see what he was up to. He ran away from them, towards the far corner of the camp area where SG-1's tents stood.

Jack was keeping guard. His flashlight beam hit Daniel, who kept running and called out, "Jack, it's me!"

"Jesus, Daniel! What happened to you?" Jack's reply sounded startled.

Daniel stopped, confused. He looked down and realized there was blood all over his clothes. "No, Jack, I'm fine. It's not me, it's Barney. He's badly hurt. We've got to get him back through the gate."

"Daniel - Fraiser may be a miracle worker, but she's no vet," Jack said, standing up.

"She's helped aliens before, and Barney's not even really an alien. Barney helped me when I was hurt. We've got to save him, I'm sure he'll die without help-"

Teal'c, Sam and even Leo had emerged from their tents and walked over to them. Daniel had probably been shouting on top of his voice without noticing.

"Daniel, slow down. Take it easy. We'll help him, all right. Maybe Doc Ramsey can help too. That'd be the first time he did something useful," Jack said bluntly, pointing the flashlight at the paleontologist.

Leo shook his head determinedly. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

"What?" Daniel uttered, wondering if Leo hadn't heard or understood what was going on. "A dinosaur is dying out there, and you're refusing to help?"

"One dinosaur individual of one particular species may be dying, but there are possibly hundreds of other species out there. If I leave, how can I ever be sure I'll get back here? No, I'll... I'll fight you, if I have to, but I'm staying."

Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. Fighting Leo might not be such a bad idea. Hadn't the man got any feelings at all? All for science, no matter what? Studying cultures had never kept Daniel from caring about the people of those cultures. But he needed to stay calm, for Ghhrrwuaghr's sake. He took a deep breath and said, "Barney doesn't have time for this."

"Okay, kids. This is what we'll do. Carter, you're in charge. Stay here with Teal'c and Ramsey. Daniel and I take Barney back to base," Jack commanded.

"He's over there," Daniel told Jack, and they ran across the camp, to where Ghhrrwuaghr was still lying. The other dinosaurs had gathered close to him, examining his wounds, even trying to stem the bleeding with leaves. Daniel spotted their guide among them.

"Grruarch! We can help Ghhrrwuaghr, but we must take him to our home. Through the stargate. Can you take us there?" he asked the young dinosaur.

"We are afraid we cannot save him and he'll be lost. If you can help, of course I will take you there," Grruarch answered, and growled a few words to the other dinosaurs in the Dinosaurian language. The dinosaurs moved aside, giving room to the humans.

Jack and Daniel moved closer to the injured dinosaur. "Ghhrrwuaghr?" Daniel uttered, but the dinosaur didn't answer. His eyes were closed. It seemed he was unconscious, but at least he was still breathing, which was good, since Daniel had no idea how to take a dinosaur's pulse.

"Umm... You take the lower part and I'll take the upper body?" Daniel suggested to Jack, who just nodded and knelt by the dinosaur's feet.

Daniel put his arms around Ghhrrwuaghr's neck and back, and lifted him from the ground together with Jack. He wasn't half as heavy as Daniel had expected. The dinosaur groaned softly and grabbed Daniel's arm. He felt the claws digging into his bicep, but bit his teeth together and did his best to ignore it.

"So, we obviously can't go through the wall," Jack noted. Grruarch had noticed it as well, and he had already headed towards the side of the camp that was sheltered by large boulders. They made their way through the passage between them. The sentries growled at them in Dinosaurian. Daniel hoped they were wishing them luck, because they'd really need it.

Grruarch ran ahead of them, faster than ever before. With the dead weight of the injured dinosaur between them, Daniel and Jack had a hard time keeping up with him. At least Ghhrrwuaghr had let go of Daniel's arm.

The ground was muddy and soft under their feet, and plants kept brushing Daniel's face. It was long past midnight, he hadn't slept at all, and he'd been walking all day. He quickly fell into a stupor, just running on without thinking at all. It felt as if he was back in the first time they had been here, running for his life in the darkening woods, with the rustling and stomping and roaring Tyrannosaur behind him. Except that this time, he wasn't running away from a dinosaur to save his life. He was running to save a dinosaur's life.

  


* * *

  


Jack couldn't decide which worried him the most, all the creatures that were probably lurking in the dark jungle around them, or the injured dinosaur he and Daniel were carrying. He caught himself thinking that it'd be a lot easier if Barney just stayed unconscious. Every time the dinosaur woke up, he would start squirming around. Jack definitely didn't blame him for that, because he was obviously suffering, but Jack could've done without the sharp claws slashing the air in front of his face.

Denver was practically flying ahead, little more than a whisper passing through the foliage in front of them. Jack didn't know the exact distance between the gate and the dino camp, but it was a couple of hours' walk. Now that they were running as fast as they could, it didn't take them long. Finding the DHD would've been next to impossible in the darkness, but clearly Denver's night vision was excellent, since he lead them straight to it.

"I'll manage a moment alone, dial the gate," Jack told Daniel, and took a better hold of Barney. Luckily, the dinosaur was out again, so Jack had no trouble with him.

Jack wasn't exactly sure whether taking Barney to the SGC was such a good idea. The dinosaur really deserved all the help SG-1 could give him, Jack agreed with Daniel on that. They might not be here at all if it wasn't for Barney. He just didn't like they idea they'd drag the dinosaur through the gate just to watch him die when no one knew what to do.

The gate flashed open, the blue glow of the event horizon shimmering through the dark trees and bushes. 

"Jack, I think Denver should come too."

"Sure, the more dinos, the merrier." It actually did make sense. Maybe Denver could help Fraiser understand how a dino's insides would normally work. And if Barney would make it, he'd probably want to have at least one friendly face, or snout, with him in the weird surroundings.

Daniel had a quick, growled conversation with Denver, and then he returned to carry his share of Barney's weight again. They made their way up the ramp and sent the GDO code. Denver was following them for a chance. He hopped nervously from side to side in front of the open gate.

"Relax, Denver," Jack told the dino, and stepped into the gate with Daniel.

The moment they landed on the ramp at the SGC, Barney woke up again and started thrashing about, his clawed feet kicking around uncontrollably. Jack did the instinctive thing and let go, and Daniel followed. Barney hit on the ramp with a clash, groaning pitifully. The clatter of claws against metal behind them revealed that Denver had gotten through as well.

"SG-1, take cover," Hammond called from the observation room. The guards around the gate had their guns pointed at Barney and Denver.

"No, no, they're friends," Daniel cried out, waving his hands. "And Ghhrrwuaghr needs medical attention."

"Stand down," Jack ordered. "He's telling you the truth."

"Very well then," Hammond's voice wasn't entirely free of hesitation. "Stand down and get a medical team in the gateroom."

Doc Fraiser ran in with her team and stopped at the foot of the ramp, just staring at them. "Colonel?" she asked uncertainly, taking in the writhing, bleeding dinosaur.

"Looked like he was dying. We couldn't think of anything else."

"Janet, please," Daniel pleaded. "I'm sure he's far less alien than some aliens you've had here."

"The things we do..." Fraiser muttered, but started walking up the ramp, her team following close behind. "All right, what've we got?" she asked, as she knelt to the dinosaur's side. Barney seemed to have fallen unconscious again.

"We think he was attacked by a team of other dinos just like him. So, lots of cuts, the sort he'd get from the kind of claws that he's got," Daniel explained. "And some bites."

"Those claws and teeth, yeah," Jack noted. Fraiser really wasn't going to have an easy job. "You'd better be careful, he tends to start wriggling about when he wakes up and you really don't want to get in the way."

"All right, people. This shouldn't be too difficult. We take him to the infirmary and patch him up as best we can. And we need to get a blood sample to the lab, stat," Fraiser ordered.

As the med team maneuvered Barney onto a gurney, Fraiser turned to face Jack, Daniel and Denver. The younger dinosaur had frozen on his spot in front of the gate, hiding behind the humans.

"I can already see the problem we're going to have," Fraiser said. "This dinosaur friend of yours has clearly lost a lot of blood. It might be enough to kill him, and then there's probably not a whole lot we can do, unless..."

"Denver could donate for him, right?" Jack pointed backwards, at the skittish dinosaur.

"There's another dinosaur? I didn't even notice. Possibly. I need a blood sample from him as well, and then we'll just have to hope their blood types match. Escort him to the infirmary."

When Fraiser hurried away with Barney, Daniel turned towards Denver, and again addressed him in the weird dinosaur speak. Finally, Denver seemed to have gathered his bearings enough that he let Daniel lead the way down the ramp and towards the infirmary.

"He's scared," Daniel explained as they walked.

"Hard to believe that something as scary as he can be scared about something like us."

"The only real building he's ever seen is the temple. And he's never seen this many humans in one place, and this much technology. This is all completely alien to him."

Daniel did his best to help Denver adapt to these weird new surroundings. The infirmary had enough odd technology to freak out a human, so Denver almost refused to step through the door at all. Daniel stayed close to him all the time, sat by his side and held a hand on his scaly neck as a medic did his best to figure out how to get a blood sample.

They sat and waited. A moment later, another medic showed up to do some more tests on Denver. She was apparently trying to get the normal values so they could compare those to Barney's, but like Daniel told her, Denver was probably way too nervous and agitated to count as normal.

They had to wait nearly an hour before Fraiser emerged to give them some news. She took them straight to the injured dinosaur, who was in one of the isolation rooms. Barney was tightly strapped to a gurney, and had a bunch of IVs and wires and whatevers on him. Half his dark green scales were wrapped in white bandages. This had to be the weirdest sight Jack had seen in this infirmary so far.

"So, you can help him? He's not going to die?" Daniel asked the Doc hopefully.

Fraiser looked at him in the eye with her worst 'you're not going to like what I've got to say'-expression. "Well, the good news is that his physiology really isn't alien at all, but quite understandable. A veterinarian would've probably had no problem at all figuring it out. For us, it was more of a challenge, but not impossible. Unfortunately, in this case, understanding his physiology only makes it obvious to us that there isn't much we can do."

Denver had edged closer to Barney, staring at the human medical contraptions so alien to him. He nudged Barney's head cautiously, and then nuzzled his neck. It looked like a strangely cute thing for a scary, sharp-clawed dino to do. Barney didn't respond at all. Fraiser looked at the two dinosaurs and shook her head.

"We've managed to stop most of the visible bleeding, but we have reason to believe he's bleeding internally as well. He keeps growing weaker. We can't operate on him, because the blood loss would certainly kill him. This other dinosaur's blood type seems to be entirely different from his, so we can't risk giving it to him. I'm sorry, Daniel. And Denver, if that's his name."

"It's not. His name's Grruarch," Daniel said softly. The dinosaur turned around at the sound of his name, his large yellow eyes fixed on Daniel, clearly anxious to hear the news.

"How long does he have?" Daniel asked.

"It's hard to say. If he was a human, a few hours, no more than that. Considering what I've seen so far, he might last longer, but I can't promise he will."

Daniel nodded, and growled a few soft words at Denver. Obviously the bad news, since Denver answered him with the saddest roar Jack had ever heard. Then he turned to rest his chin on the gurney, right under Barney's, just sitting there very still.

Daniel had crossed his arms, looking completely miserable. Jack placed a hand on his shoulder. "We did our best, Daniel. It's not your fault."

Daniel stayed silent and stared at the two dinosaurs. Jack could almost hear those genius brains of his working furiously to try and figure out something more they could do to help. Knowing Daniel, Jack wouldn't be surprised if he came up with something even though the situation looked hopeless. And he did.

"If we can't help, maybe someone else can," Daniel suggested.

"Someone else, as in?"

"These dinosaurs want to fight the Goa'uld, Jack. Who does that?"

"Me, you and half the universe..." Jack muttered, but Daniel was gazing at him in a really determined way. He was looking for a specific answer, and he expected Jack to know it. "No, just wait a moment. Daniel, you don't mean - the Tok'ra?"

"At least we can ask them."

Jack grinned. "Oh boy, they're gonna love this."

  


* * *

  


Sam watched Daniel and Jack walk away, turn off their flashlights and disappear into the dark night with Denver and the injured Barney. Teal'c and Leo stood close by, staring after them as well.

That one short conversation between Daniel and Leo had completely changed what Sam thought about the paleontologist. She had thought he was a gentle old man, maybe a bit obsessed with his field of study, but then again, who wasn't. Now, she wasn't sure what to think. His cold attitude towards Barney had taken her completely by surprise. She decided she'd better just speak her mind right away, to be done with it. 

"So, Leo, you really don't care whether Barney survives?"

"His survival really isn't up to me. I wouldn't have been able to help anyway. Yes, I may have some idea of dinosaur anatomy, but it's based on fossilized bones. It's an educated guess at best. I'm no veterinarian - I know nothing about medicine. Do you really think that, if he's going to die, I could've saved him?"

"You could've helped others save him. I'm kind of starting to wonder if you even want him to survive. Doing an autopsy on a dinosaur really would let you know what their anatomy is like, wouldn't it?"

"It would be very interesting, now that you mention it, but that's entirely beside the point," Leo said, speaking slowly and patiently, like a teacher addressing a student who was a bit slow. "I'd think it obvious to you, you're a scientist as well, after all. I'm not here to become friends with these dinosaurs, or to play doctor for them. I'm here to study them. To learn as much as can be learned about them. Any individual dinosaur is only interesting as an example of its species, as a tiny part of the whole. No individual is irreplaceable."

"Really? Does that go for humans as well? Are we all so replaceable that you wouldn't care if one of us were sick and dying?"

"It's not that I wouldn't care. What I care about doesn't matter. It's a fact that we could be replaced as well, each one of us. Myself included. That's why I have to stay here and get as much done as is humanly possible. Because I can't be sure when someone will decide I'm too old and no good, and go on to replace me with someone younger and better. This is my one chance to do something I'll be remembered for, always."

Sam frowned. It was an odd thought, but it seemed that Leo's inhuman coldness came down to a very human fear. He was afraid he'd be replaced by someone younger, and more than that, afraid he'd die and be forgotten. His vanity and fear of the slowly but inevitably approaching death were enough to make him shrug at the impending death of another intelligent being. It was disgusting, but all too human, and in a way, she understood. Though she sincerely hoped she'd never end up like that herself.

"I still think you should've gone with them," Sam repeated, so softly that she didn't know whether he heard. She didn't care. "All right, it's time to go back to bed. Teal'c, we'll split the rest of the night in three shifts, I'll take the first."

"Very well, Captain Carter. I shall be meditating, but do not hesitate to call if you require assistance."

Sam sat on a log, her hand on the butt of her P-90. The camp had fallen completely silent again. She could just hear Leo's snoring from his tent. Apparently his conscience was clear and he really didn't care about what would happen to Barney. She did care. She was worried about him, and equally worried about Daniel and Colonel O'Neill, because the trip to the gate through the dark jungle was risky enough as it was.

Nothing happened during her first watch. Teal'c came to relieve her, and she retreated to her tent and sleeping bag. Still, she couldn't sleep. She spent hours turning around, worrying over her team mates and their dinosaur friend, and listening to Leo's snoring. When her watch finally showed that it was time to get up again, she was glad to do so.

"I do not require more time to rest, Captain Carter," Teal'c told her, as she stepped out of her tent to take his place. "I can keep guard until morning."

"It's all right, Teal'c, I can't sleep anyway," she replied. "Nothing's to stop us both from sitting here."

So, she sat down next to him, and they just sat there. They had no need for small talk. Morning was finally approaching. Though it was still dark, the camp was slowly beginning to stir, dinosaurs sneaking to and fro silently, lighting fires and carrying foodstuffs from one place to the other. One party seemed to return from a hunting trip; they came through the natural gate formed by two boulders, carrying a dead, rhinoceros-like dinosaur twice as big as they.

Just when the first greenish rays of the sun filtered to them through the jungle roof, their radios crackled to life. "Carter, Teal'c, do you read?" O'Neill's voice was unmistakable.

"We hear you, sir," she answered him. "Is everyone OK?"

"Everyone else is fine, but I'm afraid Barney's not doing good. That's why I need you to return to the gate ASAP."

"Sir, I don't think Doctor Ramsey will-"

"Forget about Ramsey, it's you and Teal'c we need. Daniel needs to talk with the dinosaur elders about Barney's situation, so we want someone on base who can speak Dinosaurian-Goa'uld, and Teal'c's the only one besides Daniel who does that. And I figured I should come with Daniel so you can return to base, because there's someone here who'd prefer working with you."

"Dad?" Sam thought out loud in surprise.

"Aha, that would be one Tok'ra representative Jacob Carter. Just hurry up, will ya. If Ramsey doesn't want to come, well, then, I guess he's old enough to manage on his own among the dinos for a few hours."

"Will do, sir. Carter out."

Ramsey had emerged from his tent, rubbing his eyes sleepily - just in time to hear O'Neill's last comment. "Oh, thank you very much, Colonel," he muttered. "I'm not going anywhere, and I'll manage on my own just fine. Why aren't you running already?"

  


* * *

  


Captain Carter was uncertain whether they could find their way to the gate on their own, or whether Teal'c should ask the dinosaurs for a guide. Teal'c, however, was convinced that he could lead the way through the traps and the jungle. He knew his skills and did not exaggerate. They made their way back without encountering any trouble, except for three Ankylosaurs, which forced them to take a detour.

When they reached the stargate, Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson were already waiting for them, looking impatient. 

"Carter, Teal'c, what took you so long?" O'Neill asked.

"Sorry, sir, we came as soon as we could," Captain Carter answered him.

"Okay, we really don't have much time here. I don't know if we have any time at all, really," O'Neill explained, as Daniel Jackson moved on to the DHD to dial home. "So, here's the deal. Barney's dying. We called the Tok'ra, who happened to have a symbiote in need of a host. But Barney hasn't been conscious for long enough that we could've asked for his opinion in this. Denver said we should ask the elders. That's why we're heading back to the camp to talk with them, and you-"

O'Neill stopped abruptly, as the stargate opened in front of them. "You'd better go, you'll get a better briefing there. Daniel, this way to the camp," O'Neill gestured, and headed away from the gate, Daniel Jackson jogging after him. Seeing that time clearly was of the essence here, Teal'c and Captain Carter went through the gate.

They found Jacob Carter and General Hammond waiting on the other side, at the bottom of the ramp. 

"Dad, good to see you again," Captain Carter called out eagerly, and ran to embrace her father.

"Good to see you too, though once again, seems the circumstances are just as nasty and urgent as always," the Tok'ra representative answered. "So, I guess we should go to the dinosaur right away, we'll explain as we walk."

"Did Colonel O'Neill give you any idea of what's going on yet?" General Hammond asked, as they advanced through the corridors towards the infirmary.

"Some. You're actually considering making Barney a host?" Captain Carter asked.

Her father nodded, and spoke up in the voice of his symbiote, Selmak. "We have a symbiote whose host died recently. We were able to save the symbiote, and he's currently in stasis. Actually, we were going to ask you about possible hosts in the near future, but now that this happened, we came to think that this unusual arrangement might serve everyone's interest. We are interested in learning more about this dinosaur world and these Goa'ulds who use such unusual hosts, and we may also be able save the life of you friend."

"But you cannot proceed with the blending as the possible host is unable to give his opinion on the matter," Teal'c stated.

"This is indeed the case. This other dinosaur, Denver, believes that Barney would wish this, and if the dinosaur elders agree, then we shall proceed. Still, we are hoping that Barney will wake up for long enough that you could inquire him of his thoughts."

Teal'c nodded. "I shall do my best."

"I'll have to warn you, though," Jacob Carter, the human, spoke again. "We can't promise anything. Like always, things could go wrong. We'll basically be throwing a weakened symbiote right out of stasis into a body different from anything he's ever encountered. They might both die anyway. It's a risk we'll have to take. We Tok'ra have already agreed on this, but if the dinosaur elders resist because of it, then we won't go on with it."

By this time, they had reached the injured dinosaur's bed. Beside from the fact that he was distinctly non-human, Barney did not appear that different from any other seriously ill patient in the infirmary. Denver was there as well, standing right next to him, looking as sad as an intelligent dinosaur possibly could, drooping his head, his eyes wide. Doctor Fraiser walked to them from the other end of the room, greeting Captain Carter and Teal'c.

"How's he doing?" Captain Carter asked the Doctor.

"Hanging on by the skin of his teeth, if I may say so. My first prognosis was that he wouldn't survive the night, but he has. It seems these dinosaurs are incredibly hardy. That's why I'm not going to even try and guess how long he has left. The fact is, he will die. He's not going to get any better unless we do something. Truth be told, I can't even be sure he hasn't already suffered significant brain damage. And so far, the Tok'ra offer is all we've got."

Teal'c nodded gravely, and walked closer to the dinosaur. "I am very uncomfortable with the thought of forcing a symbiote on someone who is unable to give his approval of the matter. I hope he will regain consciousness at least passingly so I can attempt to ask him."

"I'd prefer that too, Teal'c, but I wouldn't be too optimistic," Doctor Fraiser replied, shaking her head.

Teal'c took a chair and sat down by the dinosaur's bedside. He would wait as long as it took, or - if Barney would not wake up - until Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson contacted them with the word of the dinosaur elders.

  


* * *

  


"Jack, you absolutely sure you know the way?"

"Daniel, come on, how many times have we gotten lost offworld?"

Daniel didn't answer, because he had to admit that they never really had. It was just that even though he could usually find his way around well enough, he'd have gotten lost here in a second if it wasn't for Jack leading the way. The jungle was way too dense, too green and completely the same everywhere around. He got even more wary and worried once they reached the area with traps, near to the camp, but Jack just snorted at him, exasperated.

"We've already come this way twice, I know well enough where to step."

So, they made their way through the jungle and the traps to the green wall. It felt almost too easy. They went through the tunnel in the plant growth, and emerged in an eerily silent, empty camp.

"Okay, where is everyone?" Jack wondered aloud. "Gone to some morning ritual to greet the rising sun?"

"Grruarch didn't mention anything like that. And even if they had, there'd still be someone here."

As far as Daniel could see, the bushes about the boulders that marked one boundary of the camp were completely empty. There were no sentries there. He couldn't imagine the dinosaurs leaving the camp unguarded, unless they had abandoned it altogether.

Daniel and Jack looked around and walked deeper into the camp, but there really didn't seem to be anyone there. No dinos at all, elders or younger ones. Some of the fires were still burning, but that was all.

They found their tents intact in SG-1's corner of the area. "Doctor Ramsey?" Daniel called out, but got no answer. They checked Ramsey's tent. It was empty, albeit more than a bit messy. Once they got out, Daniel spotted something colorful on the ground, and grinned when he realized what it was. A toothbrush. Amusing as it was, it worried him. Ramsey wouldn't have dropped it in the mud and left it there without a good reason.

They returned to the nearest canopy. There were half-eaten pieces of meat on the ground, and the cups on the table that contained some tea-sort-of-drink were still warm. Everything seemed to suggest that the dinosaurs had left in a hurry, taking Leo with them.

"Looks like they had to flee," Jack said softly, a worried frown on his brow. "And not long ago. It's only been, what, two hours, tops, since Carter and Teal'c left here, and considering that the cups are still warm..."

Daniel nodded, pursing his lips. "Okay, so, what do we do now?"

"Well. We've oviously got to try and find out what happened and where they went. Not that I'd give a rat's ass about what happens to Ramsey, but he's still one of our men."

"Yeah, not to mention we're not going to be able to ask anything from the elders if we can't even find them," Daniel added. "You sure it's safe?"

"Of course it's not. Which means we'll just have to be careful."

  


* * *

  


Jack crouched to the ground, to take a look at the footprints. There were lots and lots of them, overlapping each other. Last afternoon's rain had without doubt erased everything from the time before that, so these had to be from last night, or newer. Most of the footprints were dinosaurian, with three toes and claw marks. The most recent-looking ones showed that the dinos had been running.

He located the trail left by Ramsey's boots, and followed it. They seemed to lead towards the passage between the two boulders. That was were most dinosaur steps went as well. They'd fled into that direction, then. Jack just hoped they hadn't been stupid enough to leave such a clear trail all the way to wherever they had gone. Though it'd make tracing them a lot easier for Jack, it would be all too easy to their enemies as well.

There really was only one explanation to what had happened that Jack could think of. The camp was free of any signs of struggle, so he didn't believe the dinosaurs had been attacked. They had probably learned of some danger threatening the camp, and they had run away because of that. Maybe they had a second hideout somewhere else. If it was as well hidden as this one, finding it might be well nigh impossible.

"They went that way," Jack told Daniel, and pointed at the boulders.

As they both looked in the direction he was pointing, they saw and heard something moving there. Something was about to enter the camp through the passage. Jack prayed that it was just the dinosaurs returning from wherever they had been, but nevertheless, gestured to Daniel that they should take cover. They retreated to hide behind a bush at the foot of a thick tree.

A dino stepped into the camp, and right after it, another, and a third one, and several more. Jack counted eight, altogether. That seemed to be the standard size of a dinosaur party - there had been eight dinos in the group of rebels that had caught SG-1 when they'd first come here.

Jack only needed to take a good look at the first dino to figure out that these weren't rebels. The dino was wearing a belt with a zat gun in it. The first time SG-1 had been on this planet, months ago, none of the dinos had had zats. That had to be one of the weapons SG-1 had been forced to hand over when they'd been captured. These were no rebels. These were Goa'uldosaurs, or at least those loyal to them. The danger that the rebels had fled from.

They didn't have much choice here. Trying to fight their way out was hardly an option, so they'd just have to stay out of sight and hope the dinos wouldn't notice them. Jack signaled this to Daniel with laying a hand on his back and pressing him closer to the ground. No matter how low they lied, though, they weren't perfectly hidden. Jack cursed himself for not taking the time to find a better shelter.

He peered through the leaves in front of his face, trying to see what the dinos were up to. A few had spread out to search the camp. The zat-carrying one that Jack took to be their leader was speaking in their guttural language with a few others.

One of the dinos scanning the camp was walking directly towards them. It seemed Daniel had noticed it too, considering the startled look on his face, and the fact that he was holding his breath.

The dino walked slowly closer, looking around, tilting its head, listening, sniffing at things that'd been dropped on the ground. It stopped less than ten feet away from them, near enough that Jack could clearly discern every scale on its snout as it prodded the items on a table. Jack realized he was holding his breath as well.

The dino seemed to have lost interest in the table, and turned its back to them, as if to go away. Jack heard Daniel sigh out of relief. The dinosaur stopped again, raising its head, listening. It couldn't have heard that - Jack had only heard it because Daniel's face was right next to his.

The dino put its snout to the ground, its sniffing clearly audible. It turned around and moved towards them, nose still near to the mud. Jack felt a chill run down his spine. The damn dino had picked up their scent. He shook his head at Daniel, who grimaced, and sighed again, this time with despair.

They stood up as the dino walked around the bush and saw them. Jack aimed his P-90 at it, just to keep it from jumping at them. He knew fighting would do them no good. The dino didn't attack, but roared at the other dinos, who arrived instantly, forming a neat circle around the two humans. Talk about dÈj‡ vu, Jack thought sullenly.

The dino with the zat, the supposed leader, growled at them. To his dismay, Jack realized it was clearly addressing Daniel. That could mean only one thing: it recognized them from the last time they'd been on this planet, and knew that Daniel could speak their language. Jack could almost see Daniel pale at the dino's words. He clearly didn't like what he heard.

"What's it saying?" Jack whispered at him anxiously.

Daniel took a shaky breath. "He says that they've been searching for us ever since we caused the riot. He's amazed that he actually found us, even though we vanished without a trace earlier. He shall receive a royal reward for finding us. Rrragrathssh, the revered ruler, will question us and then we shall finally face the consequences of our outrageous actions."

Jack translated that further in his head. The ruler was pissed, and they were in for interrogation, torture and death. Shit. No wonder Daniel looked so startled.

The lead dino barked an order of some kind, and two dinos stepped closer to the two of them, as if waiting for something. "They want our weapons and radios," Daniel said, already offering his sidearm to the dino nearer to him, tired resignation on his face.

As much as Jack would've wanted to start shooting at the dinos, he knew Daniel was right. They were hopelessly outnumbered. They had no choice. He handed over his radio and gun.

Zat-o-saur barked again, and the dinos started moving, urging the humans on towards the passage out of the camp.

"They're taking us to the temple," Daniel said, and hung his head, staring at the mud at their feet.

Soon, they were out of the camp and in the jungle, marching ahead at the fast pace set by the dinos. Jack took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair. It was a day's walk to the temple complex. A day was a long time. They'd have to escape before they got there, before they were closed in one of those cages on the roof again. If he could just think of something. But the dinosaurs walked close by, making sure that they couldn't even consider escaping.

They walked on, and Jack kept trying to think about that something that'd allow them to escape. The dinos had the home advantage in the jungle. Trying to run would make no sense, they'd just get caught again, and probably hurt too.

Afternoon came, and with it, the rain, and Jack was still thinking. Daniel was trudging on by his side, silent and withdrawn. Maybe Daniel could say something to the dinos, talk them into... Into what? Jack had no idea. Returning to the temple with the two of them would probably give these dinos all the fame and glory a green scaly Goa'uldosaur could hope for. He couldn't imagine them wanting to trade it for anything Jack and Daniel had to offer. If freedom from the Goa'uld meant anything to these dinos, surely they'd have joined the rebels instead of sticking with their ruler.

Dripping wet from head to toe, Jack was still desperately trying to think of something when he spotted the pale stone wall of the temple looming ahead of them. They walked in through the very same doorway he and Daniel had found when they'd last been here.

He kept thinking as they were lead to an empty throne room and taken through the transport rings to the rooftop area filled with cages.

He only stopped thinking when the iron barred door was slammed closed behind them.

Jack kicked at the bars of their cage and swore loudly. Talk about dÈj‡ vu. Except that this was worse than last time. There was no cavalry on the way. No one back home knew they'd been caught. And this time, they'd be getting no help from the locals, either. The rebels had fled somewhere, and Barney might well be dead already.

  


* * *

  


Sam stood in the briefing room and gazed through the window at the silent stargate. It was past noon already, and still no word from O'Neill and Daniel. It was strange. They should've contacted the SGC by now. It'd been around 8 AM when they'd met at the gate in Dinoland, and the walk to the camp shouldn't have taken them more than a few hours. Unless they had gotten lost, but that sounded unlikely.

Her dad walked into the room and stopped right by her side. He must've guessed what she was thinking, because he said, "Just give them some time. It won't be easy to explain this to the dinosaurs, and then the elders will need a moment to think this over."

Sam shook her head. "But we don't have time. Barney doesn't. And they know that. I'm starting to wonder if something's happened to them."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure they're all right."

They just stayed there in silence for a while. It felt wonderful to have her dad around again, though she hated it that his presence almost always meant something else was going wrong. She was happy that he had such an important job out there, but she missed him.

"Dad, tell me, honestly. What do you think about this? Not Selmak, but you, as someone who's been in a situation a lot like Barney. Should we go on with the blending?"

"I'm really biased when it comes to this, Sam. Becoming a Tok'ra was the best thing that could've happened to me, and I'll always be thankful that you offered me the option. For Barney, it would be different. As a dinosaur, he would never be able to become a normal Tok'ra operative. He'd just serve as a liaison on his own world, and maybe sometimes as a spy, in some more unusual circumstances. So, he might not feel like he's a part of the Tok'ra community. On the other hand, there's no way we can guess what the dinos would think about him if he had a symbiote. Not to mention that it wouldn't be easy to the symbiote, either. Ranys is a pensive type who enjoys reading and studying. I don't know how he'll adapt to a host who's basically a predator."

Sam nodded thoughtfully. There would be lots of downsides in this arrangement, and then there were the risks Selmak had already mentioned several times. That things could go wrong and both Barney and Ranys might die. But to her, it seemed that was a risk they'd have to take.

"So, it's not going to be simple or easy. But since it's is the only way we might be able to save Barney, they'll just have to manage," she said to her dad.

  


* * *

  


Teal'c had spent all morning sitting by the injured dinosaur's side, most of the time in meditation. Denver had stood on the other side of the bed all that time, almost as still as Teal'c, except when he bent closer to Barney, to touch him, as if to let him know he was there.

Barney had not regained consciousness, at least not for long enough that Teal'c could have explained anything to him. A few times, he had opened his eyes, tried to lift his head, and growled pitifully. Teal'c wished there was something they could do to ease the dinosaur's pain, but Doctor Fraiser was uncertain of the correct amount of medication. Apparently, she had already given him more than she would have thought safe, considering the dinosaur's weight, and was afraid to give more.

Time seemed to have little meaning in this sterile, silent room. Captain Carter and her father visited them several times, and Doctor Fraiser and the nurses kept checking on the dinosaur, but nothing changed. Until sometime after midday, when Barney opened his eyes once again, and stared right at Teal'c. It seemed he was conscious, and recognized Teal'c.

Teal'c leaned closer to the dinosaur. He would need to explain things to Barney as clearly possible, so that the dinosaur might understand despite Teal'c's limited competence in the Dinosaurian-Goa'uld dialect. 

"You are dying," Teal'c began bluntly. "We can save you, but then, your life will be changed completely. You will have to share your body with another being. You will never again be truly alone. You will be different. The choice is yours. Will you accept our help?"

Barney blinked slowly, and then, at least it seemed to Teal'c, inclined his head in a nod. Then he closed his eyes again, and stayed still, probably unconscious. Had that been the answer? Teal'c could not be certain. He had never seen the dinosaurs nod to say yes, but then again, Barney had spent time with SG-1 and had seen the gesture often enough. He might well know what it meant.

Teal'c was pondering whether he should ran to fetch the Tok'ra right away, when he realized that something had changed about the way Barney was breathing, and it was clearly not a change to the better. It sounded as if the dinosaur could not breathe at all. Teal'c called out for a medic.

Doctor Fraiser ran to the room, and was immediately on top of the situation. "We need to intubate," she began shouting orders to her staff, and then stepped closer to the dinosaur, eyeing him with a slightly uncertain expression. "All right, I'm going to need someone to hold his mouth open for me."

"I can do this," Teal'c volunteered. After all, he was stronger than anyone else in the room, and was familiar with the dinosaur. He moved in to pry the dinosaur's jaws apart, revealing the rows of sharp teeth. Doctor Fraiser guided him to turn and tilt Barney's head into the required position. Barney did not resist at all - he was completely out of it. He stayed just as lifeless as Fraiser struggled to force a tube down his long throat. Teal'c kept his place all through the procedure, which took Doctor Fraiser quite a while. Finally, it was all done, the tube taped in place and connected to a ventilator.

"I'm afraid this is the beginning of the end," Fraiser commented darkly, as she stepped away from the dinosaur. "If we're going to go on with the Tok'ra blending, we need to do it soon, or it might be too late. He might be too weak already, or too sick for the symbiote to heal."

In his current state, no longer breathing on his own, Barney would not be able to speak even if he did regain consciousness, which seemed unlikely to happen again. And they had still heard nothing from Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson. The answer Teal'c had received from the dinosaur had left him uncertain of whether Barney had really understood the offer, and whether he had really said yes. But Teal'c truly believed that Barney would want this. He believed Barney would want to live. So, although it made him feel like he was lying, he spoke up.

"Barney was conscious earlier, and he accepted our offer. We must act now."

"He said yes? You sure about this, Teal'c?"

"I am certain, Doctor Fraiser."

Fraiser ran to the telephone. General Hammond, Captain Carter and her father arrived in mere minutes, Jacob Carter carrying the stasis container where the symbiote was. The Tok'ra went straight to the dinosaur's side.

"So, George? I'm free to proceed?" Jacob Carter gazed at General Hammond.

"Go ahead," General Hammond answered without a moment's hesitation.

The Tok'ra looked down, and when he spoke up again, he did so in Selmak's dual voice. "I'm not going to waste any time here. Stand aside. Once I open the container, the symbiote will instinctively jump into the nearest living being it can find. That must be Barney."

Although it was the usual practice of the Tok'ra symbiotes to enter their hosts through the mouth, it was not possible here. So, Jacob Carter unsealed the container right next to the back of Barney's neck. The symbiote crawled out - it looked just like one of the Goa'uld Teal'c despised so much. It was impossible to tell the Tok'ra and the Goa'uld aside by appearance.

The symbiote found the dinosaur's neck, and burrowed into it. Though he was heavily sedated, Barney bucked against his restraints, his back and neck arcing spasmodically. Fraiser kept a close eye on the displays around the bed, and clearly did not like what she saw. An alarm went off, and she immediately shouted at the nearest nurse to "Get the crash cart!"

But it was over almost as quickly as it had begun, the alarm sound stopped, and Barney was completely still and silent again. "Wait, wait... He's stabilizing," Doctor Fraiser commented, still gazing at the monitor readings. "Looks like they made it through the worst part."

"You could call that the worst, in a way, but he's still not out of the woods. Far from it. Now, it's all up to Ranys, who's faced with a task more challenging than what he's ever known before. He needs to blend with a neural system that's probably very different from what he's familiar with, and then heal injuries that, if I've got it right, would've already killed a human."

"So, now we wait," Captain Carter commented.

Only now Teal'c noticed the solitary dark green form standing in one corner of the room. Denver had retreated there not to be on the way, probably terrified of what was happening, even though it was all for the good of his friend. Teal'c walked to the dinosaur, and addressed him softly, much like he would speak to his son.

"The worst is over. Now we wait," he repeated to Denver in Dinosaurian-Goa'uld.

  


* * *

  


Daniel's memories of SG-1's previous captivity in this place, in a cage exactly like this one, were hazy and vague. That was probably for the best, because he hadn't been feeling all that great at the time. He could remember how hard it had been to think, to concentrate, and to breathe. He'd been too sick to get a very good picture of the surroundings. As he tossed his pack to the ground, sat down with his back against the bars and looked around, he almost felt as if he was here for the first time.

The cage was actually quite spacious for the two of them. Nevertheless, the bars were close enough to each other that there was no way anyone could be able to escape through them. They were made of iron, and they were so thick that they'd easily hold even a T-Rex.

Jack was pacing around the cage nervously. "We've got to come up with something," he muttered. "There's always a way out."

Daniel wasn't entirely sure about that. All in all, the situation seemed dire. Maybe their best way would not be through action, but through talk and reasoning. "If I could just convince them to let us go. Maybe I could even reconcile between the rebels and the Goa'uldosaurs."

Even as he considered that, Daniel knew it was a long shot. The Goa'uld didn't negotiate. They just took whatever they wanted, using any means necessary. So, when a group of guards arrived to take Jack and Daniel to meet the ruler, Daniel felt chilled at the thought of what might be coming.

They were lead through the rings to the throne room again, and this time, it wasn't empty. A Goa'uldosaur sat on the throne, but not the old one that'd ruled the last time SG-1 had been here. The old, senile ruler had been overthrown and killed, and his son had taken his place. This new ruler, Rrragrathssh, was a younger, stronger and more aggressive dinosaur. He had dealt with SG-1 the last time, and he'd never been too gentle. He'd been the one who had forced Jack and Daniel down the stairs into the catacombs below the temple and closed the door after them. He'd also hit Daniel with his antique version of a hand device. Rrragrathssh was still wearing that hand device, in addition to the golden circlet of the ruler.

Jack and Daniel were taken to the foot of the throne, and then the guards retreated to give room to their ruler. The old ruler had just sat there and talked to them, but Rrragrathssh leaped down and stood right in front of them. He was shorter than they, but that made him no less threatening - he was armed with teeth, claws and the hand device, when Daniel and Jack had no weapons at all, except for the knives the dinosaurs hadn't bothered to take from them.

"I cannot believe you were stupid enough to get caught," the ruler hissed at them. "We spent many turns of the moon looking for you, and then you suddenly show up in the middle of the traitors' camp! Now that we have you, I will find out where you came from and how you disappeared like you did, as if you had vanished off the surface of the planet. Indeed, I believe that is what you must have done, although I cannot understand why you returned. I will find out," the dinosaur repeated menacingly, walking a circle around the two of them.

Jack was gazing at Daniel, raising his eyebrows, trying to express that he wanted to hear what the ruler was saying. "Just the usual threats and accusations," Daniel whispered.

Rrragrathssh stopped right in front of Jack, reaching out a clawed hand to grab his chin. "You. You do not understand me, do you?" it growled in Goa'uld-Dinosaurian. Of course Jack didn't, and Daniel desperately hoped that the dinosaur would leave Jack alone because of that.

"Yeah, roar all you wish, you won't get anything from me," Jack spat the words at the dinosaur, in English. Daniel figured the message was clear enough.

The ruler let go of Jack's face, leaving a set of thin red lines where his claws had scraped the skin. "I have no use for you," he simply declared, and then gestured to his guards, pointing at Jack. He barked his orders to them in the true Dinosaurian language instead of Goa'uld-Dinosaurian, so Daniel had no idea what he was saying. But the thought that he had no use for Jack made Daniel fear the worst. God, what if they were just going to kill Jack because he was of no use to them?

"No, no, no, wait, don't! You don't need to!" Daniel cried out - in English, without thinking - and tried to stop the guards who'd moved in to grab Jack, but another pair of guards grabbed his arms and pulled him away.

Surrounded by guards, looking startled, Jack shouted, "Daniel, what the hell's going on?"

Daniel couldn't tell him, since he really didn't know. He just shook his head, knowing that the worry and terror on his face would be enough to warn Jack. The dinosaur guards took Jack and escorted him away, taking him somewhere through the transport rings. Maybe to slay him as brutally as only such clawed predators could. To tear him apart... The thoughts of what the dinosaurs might do to Jack made Daniel feel sick, and almost made him forget where he was, and what he was faced with himself.

"You will tell me who you are, what you are, and why you have come here," Rrragrathssh commanded, taking hold of Daniel's jacket with his clawed fingers.

Daniel saw no reason why he couldn't answer some of that. "My name's Daniel Jackson. We are humans, Tau'ri, though I guess that doesn't mean anything to you. We are the race all Goa'ulds now use as hosts."

"Lies. Why would they choose such inferior creatures, so soft and defenseless compared to us and to the first hosts?" the ruler roared. In one fluid movement, he opened his fist and slashed down, tearing Daniel's jacket and shirt, and leaving a stinging set of claw marks on his chest. Gasping out, he pressed a hand on them. He didn't think the cuts were deep, just superficial, not really dangerous, but they felt nasty - and the thought that this was only the beginning made it even worse.

"Do not lie to me, human," Rrragrathssh tried the word that was strange and new to him, immediately making it sound like an insult. "So, you are not of this world. How did you come here?"

That was the one question Daniel must not answer. Never. The only dinosaurs who knew of the stargate were Ghhrrwuaghr and Grruarch, and in all the galaxy, apparently no one else but the SGC and the Tok'ra knew that there was a working gate on P4X-215. The planet would stay safe and sheltered as long as the knowledge of the gate wouldn't spread. If the Goa'uldosaurs learned of it, they'd use it to contact other Goa'ulds, and who could know what that would lead to. No, Daniel would die before he'd let the Goa'uldosaurs know of the gate's existence.

"I'm not going to tell you," he answered, softly but determinedly.

The dinosaur stretched out the hand on which he wore the hand device, and flexed his clawed fingers. "You know what this is, do you not? You have already felt its effects."

Daniel bit his lip and stayed silent. He really had, from the hand of this very same dinosaur. He'd rather not feel it again, but he had little choice.

"Answer my question. How did you come here? In a space ship?"

Maybe he should say yes to that. Lie to the ruler, make him believe that they had a ship somewhere out there, hidden in the jungle. But he wasn't sure he could pull it off. He wasn't sure it'd do any good. He didn't answer.

The dinosaur pointed the hand device at Daniel, and hit him with it, the energy lashing out at him just like the familiar blue flash of a zat gun. Last time, the hand device hit had been bad enough to make him stop breathing, but then, he had been really sick. Now, he fell to the floor, engulfed in the pain that was all too familiar, unlike anything else he knew, coursing through his body, burning in every single cell. He knew it only lasted minutes, but it felt like hours.

He hadn't had time to recover, he was still lying helplessly on his back on the floor, when the dinosaur jumped on him, a heavy weight landing right on his chest, the clawed feet drawing more cuts in the already injured skin. He groaned out in pain, but the ruler was relentless. The dinosaur pushed his reptilian face close to Daniel's. Daniel couldn't quite make his eyes focus on it.

"This is the important question, is it not? There is something you wish to hide. Tell me, and I may spare you."

No, no, this was going all wrong, Daniel thought. He should've said they'd come in a ship. Should've said something. He had made things worse. Now, the ruler was even more suspicious, and would not take a simple answer.

Rrragrathssh brought the hand device right in front of Daniel's face. Daniel knew all too well what two zat blasts would do. He did not want to die, but he couldn't let them know about the stargate.

He was too shocked, too hurt, to come up with anything to say that would help, that would be convincing enough. He didn't say anything. He closed his eyes.

He saw the blue flash through his closed eyelids, and then the agony hit him, and he knew nothing more.

  


* * *

  


Jack heard the desperation in Daniel's voice as he protested to the dinos who'd stepped forth to take Jack away. 

"Daniel, what the hell's going on?" he asked, but Daniel only shook his head. The fear was clear on his face. Jack got the feeling that whatever the dinos were up to, it wasn't good. It might be very bad. He tried to struggle against them, but the clawed hands tightened their hold of his shoulders, digging through his jacket. The guards activated the transport rings, and took Jack away from the room. Away from Daniel.

Daniel had clearly been afraid that the dinos were going to do something awful to Jack - kill him - eat him - whatever, but when Jack found that they'd taken him back to the roof, he realized that Daniel had probably got it wrong. The dinos dragged him back to the cage, and just locked the door after him and went away.

Jack grabbed the bars with both hands. "Hey! Come on! What's going on? You gonna bring Daniel back too?" he shouted after the dinos, but of course they didn't understand, and didn't even care enough to look back.

He sat down on the wet stone floor. At least it wasn't raining anymore. It was getting dark. He checked his watch - 2100 hours. By now, Barney would either be Tok'rasaur, or dead.

Daniel might be dead too. Jack couldn't be sure, though he didn't really believe that. The ruler had wanted to interrogate them, and Jack wasn't much good when it came to that, since he couldn't speak the dinos' language. So they'd interrogate Daniel. Jack couldn't begin to guess what they'd do to him. One thing Jack knew for sure, and that was that Daniel wasn't going to break. Jack trusted him. Daniel knew the dinos mustn't learn about the gate, so he wouldn't tell them. Maybe they'd torture him and then kill him when he wouldn't speak. Jack tried all he could to force that thought out of his head. No, they wouldn't kill him yet. They'd not be that rash.

Jack couldn't think of anything useful to do. He went through every single iron bar around him, searching for any signs of weakness that might make it possible to break them somehow, but he found none. He sat down again, closed his eyes, leaned back against one of the all too strong bars and waited.

The distant sound of claws against stone made him jump up instantly. He gazed through the bars. The faint light of a quarter moon revealed the approaching dinosaurs. There were only two of them, and they were carrying something. As they got nearer, he saw that it was Daniel. He looked lifeless. Unconscious, Jack told himself. Daniel was just unconscious. They wouldn't bring him here if he was dead.

The dinosaurs opened the door, dropped Daniel carelessly on the floor, and left again.

Jack found his flashlight and pointed the beam at Daniel. Less than a day ago, he'd done the same, and found Daniel covered in Barney's blood. Now, the blood Jack saw on Daniel's chest was clearly his own. Daniel's jacket and shirt were torn, revealing several bleeding cuts, which looked nasty, but hopefully not life-threatening. Jack placed his fingers on Daniel's neck, and easily found a pulse - it was strong, but horribly fast. Daniel's skin felt warm to the touch. It didn't look like shock to Jack, but something was obviously wrong. What had the damn dinos done to him?

"Daniel, wake up," Jack shouted, and shook his friend gently, but he got no answer. After several unsuccessful attempts at waking Daniel up, his dread growing with each one, Jack gave up and began cleaning the cuts instead.

Once Jack had finished bandaging the wounds, he checked Daniel's pulse again, and felt his anxiety lift slightly when he found it clearly slower.

Unable to think of anything more he could do, Jack sat down by Daniel's side and waited.

  


* * *

  


Sam rested her elbow on the control room table, and put her hand over her mouth to hide a yawn. It was close to midnight, and she'd sat here for several hours, just staring at the gate. She'd witnessed the return of two SG teams and a radio conversation with a third, but no word, nothing at all, from Daniel and O'Neill. They'd even tried dialing P4X-215 and radioing them, but they hadn't answered. Something had gone wrong, she was sure of it. General Hammond shared her concern, but he'd suggested that they'd wait until Barney had recovered enough that they could all go back to Dinoland together.

Teal'c was still sitting by Barney's side, together with Denver. It seemed to Sam that he was there more for Denver's sake than for Barney's. Barney had been unconscious ever since the early afternoon, when the blending had taken place. Doctor Fraiser said he was improving fast, thanks to the symbiote, Ranys. Before Sam's dad had had to leave again to take part in some Tok'ra meeting on some distant planet, he had estimated that the blending would be complete and Barney fully healed in the morning. Then, Ranys could take care of explaining things to Barney. Denver, on the other hand, was still nervous and afraid, and he refused to leave Barney's side. The last time Sam had visited the infirmary, she'd actually found Teal'c trying to offer food to the younger dinosaur, who had refused.

As the digital display of her watch changed to show all zeros for midnight, Sam finally forced herself to get up and leave. She had to admit that it was unlikely her two missing team mates were going to contact them anymore. Sitting here was no good. No matter what, they wouldn't leave to search for O'Neill and Daniel before the morning. 

She turned her back to the silent gate and walked away. Maybe she could catch a few hours of sleep - though she was almost sure she wouldn't. Not when half her team was somewhere out there.

  


* * *

  


Ghhrrwuaghr, the former head librarian of the Great Temple of the Rulers, currently a councilor of the rebel elders and their reluctant, unofficial leader, woke up feeling that something had changed. He could not point it with his forefinger's claw, as the saying went, but something was different.

He remembered the betrayal and the attack. He and his party had been at the meeting place, waiting for Rwghaurg. She had indeed come, but with her had followed a dozen of Rrragrathssh's guards. The rebels had been taken by surprise, and they had been badly outnumbered. They had fought, but it had been hopeless. The ruler's guards had had weapons, and they had used them against their own kind, even though ageless tradition forbade it. 

Ghhrrwuaghr had seen his friends fall, one by one. He had went down as well, and the ruler's guards had taken him for dead. But he had had enough strength left to crawl all the way back to the camp. It had been a nightmare. The pain had been unimaginable. He had been injured before, several times, on hunts, but he had been young at that time. Since then, he had grown too fond of the old archives, of reading, writing and learning, to care about the thrill of running in the jungle. And these injuries, caused by the claws of those of his own kind, were far worse than the heavy hit of a shell-bearer's tail or the piercing stab of a three-horn.

Ghhrrwuaghr had been sure he would die, but he had made it back to the other rebels, and the humans. The one called Daniel, whose name Ghhrrwuaghr could not say, had been there, trying to help. Just like Ghhrrwuaghr had been trying to help him when he had been hurt.

He did not have many memories from the time between that moment when he had been lying on the ground in the camp, and the present. He remembered the pain. He remembered that it had felt even worse every time he had woken up. From the fragments, he could make up a whole: the humans had carried him through the jungle, and taken him to their world. They had tended to his wounds, but he had still felt weaker and worse. He had been asleep, deep in nightmares. Then, the tall, dark-skinned human called Teal'c had spoken to him. He had asked if Ghhrrwuaghr would accept their help if it would change his life. The human's speech had been hard to understand, but that had not mattered. Ghhrrwuaghr had agreed. He would take any help that would allow him to live.

Now, Ghhrrwuaghr was alive. He was no longer in pain. And something was different. It must be the change Teal'c had spoken of.

As Ghhrrwuaghr thought back on things that had happened, memories came up that were not his. That were from a span of years far longer than his life, far stranger than anything he had ever done. The memories of someone who was not he, and yet they were his.

"Worry not. I am Ranys, and we are now one," a voice spoke inside his head, a voice within him that was not his and yet it was a part of him.

"How can this be?" he thought.

"Seek the memories and you will understand. You are now one of the Tok'ra. The resistance who wish to overthrow the Goa'uld. I am a symbiote, of the same race as the Goa'uld, but completely different from them in all that truly matters."

Ghhrrwuaghr sought his memories, and slowly, he began to understand how his life had changed. It was different in a good way. Now, he knew languages that he had never even heard of, and hundreds of planets, and many things about the stargates, about weapons and space ships. More than Rrragrathssh would ever know. This knowledge would help him fight Rrragrathssh and win. Ranys was pleased as well, of the knowledge of Ghhrrwuaghr's people, their language, their tales. He enjoyed learning and studying, just like Ghhrrwuaghr. They were very much alike.

Ghhrrwuaghr, who was now also Ranys, opened his eyes and looked around. He knew he had been in this room before, but he could barely remember it. The walls were white, and there were many strange things around him, although Ranys could explain many of them, and then they were no longer strange.

Grruarch was there as well, not far from him, and as soon as she saw that his eyes were open, she ran to him.

"Ghhrrwuaghr?" Grruarch asked. "Can you hear me? Can you speak?"

"I can. I am well again, Grruarch," he answered, his voice coming through weak and soft. "Although perhaps I should say that we are well, for I am now different. There is another being who is now a part of me. But you need not fear. It is good."

Others stepped into his field of vision, taking their places by Grruarch's sides. There was Teal'c, who had been with him when he had been sick, and Carter, the female with hair light as the morning sun. But Jack was not there, and neither was Daniel. Ghhrrwuaghr didn't know why they were not here. He would have expected to see Daniel - though he barely knew the human, he had come to consider him a friend.

"Doctor? He's awake - Barney's awake," Carter called. It took Ghhrrwuaghr a good while to realize that he had understood. Carter had spoken in the humans' language, and Ghhrrwuaghr had understood every word.

The Doctor, a short female who often appeared in Ghhrrwuaghr's hazy memories of this place, emerged before him, and the others gave way so she could get near enough to examine him.

"Yes, I am awake," Ghhrrwuaghr told her, in the human language. He knew he still could not pronounce it well, because it was simply, physically too strange. Nevertheless, the Doctor must have understood him, because she stopped and stared at him with wide eyes.

  


* * *

  


It was the strangest thing to hear Barney suddenly speak up in English. The dinosaur seemed to have as much trouble pronouncing the words as Teal'c had when speaking the Goa'uld-Dinosaurian dialect, but it was unmistakable. Of course, Ranys, the symbiote, would know many languages, and now, Barney shared that knowledge. They would no longer need Daniel Jackson to translate each time they wished to negotiate with the dinosaurs. Barney could do it as well.

"Barney - I am sorry, I cannot pronounce your real name well, and this is the name we use for you," Teal'c told the dinosaur, who was still lying in his infirmary bed, though Doctor Fraiser had already removed the restraints. "Daniel Jackson and Colonel O'Neill went through the gate to your home world, to speak with the elders. A day has passed since. They have not contacted us again, and we have been equally unable to reach them. We fear that they are in danger, and we wish to return to search for them. Can you come with us?"

"The blending was successful, but Ghhrrwuaghr is still weak," Ranys answered this time, his speech doubly distorted, as the symbiote spoke with the dinosaur's mouth. "Nevertheless, we can accompany you to the planet. We are worried for your friends. They are our friends as well."

The dinosaur climbed off his bed, and took some time to step around, searching his balance. Denver eyed him curiously, like he couldn't decide what to make of this Barney who wasn't exactly Barney anymore.

"So, how soon can we leave?" Barney growled in his Dinosaurian English.

  


* * *

  


The guards were back again, for the third time in a few hours' time. They walked to the cage, stood there, stared, growled a few words at each other, and left. Jack got the disturbing feeling that they were checking to see whether Daniel was conscious. That they were waiting for him to wake up so they could take him away again.

Jack sat and waited. Hours passed, the dinosaurs came again and went away and returned and left. Daniel stayed unconscious, and Jack didn't see any change in his condition, which was both good and bad. Good, because he didn't seem to be in any pain, and his vitals were perfectly steady. Bad, because it just wasn't normal for anyone to be out and completely unresponsive for this long.

As he listened to the soft, regular sound of Daniel's breathing, Jack couldn't help thinking about their last time here. About the way Daniel's breathing had sounded then - all wrong, loud, raspy and strained. Maybe this time wouldn't be that bad after all, he tried to convince himself. Come morning, a full day would've passed since they'd left the SGC. By now, the folks back home would already have guessed that something had happened, and they'd come to look for them. Though Jack didn't know how they'd ever be able to figure out what had happened, if all they'd find would be an empty dino camp.

The moon had just begun its descent, showing that morning really was approaching, when Jack thought he picked up a slight catch in Daniel's breathing. His worry doubling instantly, he crouched closer to check him again, and found that Daniel had finally opened his eyes. They were wide, the look on his face bewildered.

"Daniel, thank God," Jack uttered, pushing a few stray locks from his friend's forehead, and then placing a hand on his shoulder. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Jack? I... I should be dead!"

  


* * *

  


Just speaking a few words made Daniel feel like his head was about to implode. Every muscle in his body was aching, even the ones he had never realized he had. It was the sort of feeling that he'd come to associate with a recent zat hit. His chest was wrapped in bandages, and his torn jacket was spread over it. The stinging pain of the cuts could barely rival his headache. The only place that actually wasn't hurting was where Jack's warm hand rested on his shoulder.

The surroundings were dark, lit only by faint silvery moonlight. Jack's face was hovering above his, looking hazy, which wasn't that strange, since Daniel had lost his glasses somewhere. Jack was frowning.

"Huh? Of course you shouldn't be dead! Why do you say that?" Jack said incredulously.

"Two zat hits," Daniel answered, his voice actually sounding better than he felt. "And I thought you'd be dead too."

He'd thought he was dead for sure. The last moments had been horrifying. He'd thought they were both going to die, that the guards were going to kill Jack, but there Jack was. Daniel could just discern the bars of the cage behind him. They were both alive, and still imprisoned.

"They brought me back here and left me to rot," Jack explained. "And dragged you back a bit later. You've been out for several hours. So - two zat hits? Really?"

Daniel frowned, and realized where he'd gone wrong. "Hand device, actually," he clarified it to Jack. Rrragrathssh had hit him twice with the hand device, and even though it both felt and looked like a zat blast, it seemed it wasn't exactly the same. Two hits wouldn't kill.

"All right. So, it's not a zat," Jack came to the same conclusion as Daniel. "But it's no healing device either."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Daniel grimaced.

"How bad is it?"

"Pretty much feels like how it'd feel to be zatted twice and live."

"Good thing they let us keep our stuff," Jack commented, and offered Daniel a couple of painkillers - the strongest sort they had - and water. Lifting his head from the stone floor enough to get a drink was a feat he might not have managed on his own. His limbs felt like lead, except that lead wouldn't be this achy.

Apparently, running out of supplies wouldn't pose a problem anytime soon, but if Rrragrathssh would continue his interrogation, simple survival might. Daniel didn't know how many of those hand device zat hits it'd take to kill him, and he'd rather not find out.

  


* * *

  


Daniel didn't really say much about how he felt, but Jack could tell by the look on his face that he was really sore. He stayed still on the ground, and didn't even try to get up. Jack didn't want to hurry him to do it, either, since he was afraid that all too soon, the dinos would return and take him. Unless they could cheat them. So, when Jack heard the sound of the approaching dinos again, he told Daniel to close his eyes and lie very still.

The dinos came, stared at them, talked, and left.

"Yess," Jack whispered under his breath. "Any idea what they said?"

"None whatsoever. They spoke in Dinosaurian. I only do Goa'uld."

"Okay. Well, if this is going to be this easy all the time, I won't complain."

Sitting around without anything to do felt a bit easier with Daniel around. At least they could talk. To Jack's relief, Daniel seemed to be thinking as fast and clear as always, and he seemed to be getting better, too. After the dinos had paid their second visit and Daniel had played dead for them again, Daniel actually sat up, and then stood, with a bit of help from Jack.

"Okay. I'm okay," Daniel assured Jack, sounding pretty convincing. "If something unexpected happens and we get the chance to run, then I can run."

Of course, something unexpected happened, but they didn't get the chance to run. The dinos returned all too soon, taking them by surprise, and they found Daniel on his feet. They opened the cage and grabbed Daniel by the arms.

"Oh for crying out loud, cut him some slack, can't you even wait till the morning?" Jack shouted at them uselessly. All he got was an angry roar and a pair of jaws snapping menacingly in front of his face.

"Daniel, just..." Jack started, but he didn't really know what he was trying to say. Don't give up? Daniel wouldn't, Jack knew that. Take care? That would be a really stupid thing to say.

"I know, Jack," Daniel answered - it didn't make much sense in reply to Jack's unfinished sentence. Jack got the feeling that Daniel had some trouble trying to figure out what to say too. 

The dinos were dragging Jack's best friend away so the ruler could torture him again, and neither of them could do anything to stop that. It was a nightmarish situation. There really wasn't anything to say that would make it any better.

"Daniel, I'll be seeing you. Got that? See you soon," Jack finally called out when the dinos had already closed the cage door in front of his face.

  


* * *

  


Daniel shivered. Mostly because the night air felt cool against his bare skin, though he wouldn't deny he was afraid. The dinos had showed up so suddenly that he hadn't even gotten his jacket on. All he had were the bandages wrapped around his upper body. As the lingering aches and soreness of the hand device hit had slowly faded, the sting of the cuts had grown worse in turn. Daniel had to use all his willpower to keep himself from touching them, since it really wouldn't do any good.

The dinos took him to the throne room again. The ruler was waiting for him, standing at the foot of the throne, talking with a few other dinosaurs. One of them was holding Daniel's glasses, so it seemed that this time, Daniel actually hadn't lost them himself. The dinos had taken them when he'd been unconscious. Of course, they'd never seen glasses before. Last time, Daniel had lost them when the Tyrannosaur had attacked, before he'd even entered this temple.

"Finally!" Rrragrathssh greeted Daniel, sounding as exasperated as only a Goa'uld could. "I thought you were never going to wake up! Truly, I am amazed that creatures as weak as you can stay alive at all."

The ruler walked closer to Daniel. He crossed his arms protectively across his chest. As if that would help.

"Wargrawh, my counselor here, says that it was the wounds and the loss of blood, but Arrwgrawh, his brother, blames the hand device hit. They would like to make this an experiment, and dissect you once it is over. I, however, don't care. Once I have the information I need, you will die, and they can do whatever they wish to your body."

"And.... About my friend," Daniel tried cautiously, knowing that just asking might put Jack at risk. So far, the ruler had seemed to have completely forgotten about Jack.

"He will take part in the next Remembrance of Choosing, and we shall make sure that he will not win. We will prove once and for all that the last time, you humans cheated, and that we are still the true chosen hosts. He will pay for your attempts to undermine our divine rule. But why do you care? You will be dead long before him!" the dinosaur's voice suddenly grew menacing, and he aimed the hand device ominously at Daniel's face.

"Wargrawh expressed an interest in how long you will endure the pain. Perhaps we should try, just to let him know. Unless you are willing to tell me how you came to this planet, and how you vanished so fast again."

Daniel shook his head slightly. "If you kill me, you'll never find out," he said softly.

"I will find out," Rrragrathssh roared, and activated the hand device.

The blue flash hit Daniel, and he fell to his knees, but - unlike before - unlike a zat blast - the pain was even more intense, and it didn't let go of him. Didn't even let him fall. He felt his muscles cramp, like from some strong electric current, he was frozen on his spot, on his knees, his back bent and head tilted backwards, and the pain... Was he screaming? His mouth was open, but he couldn't hear... God, the agony...

Suddenly, finally, it let go of him, and he crashed to the floor, face first. Even the lingering echo of the pain was so bad that landing on the recent cuts on his chest felt like nothing at all. Rrragrathssh was speaking, somewhere far away - he barely heard it past the thunderous sound of his heartbeat ringing in his ears - he could feel it pounding against the floor.

As the pain receded, all too slowly, he could think again, concentrate enough to realize what had happened. Rrragrathssh had held him in the hand device's grip just like Ra or Apophis had done with theirs, only the pain was completely different. Worse, if such a thing was possible. The Goa'uldosaur's hand device was definitely not a zat.

A heavy weight landed on Daniel's back, followed by the unmistakable sting of a dinosaur's claws. Rrragrathssh had stepped on him, pressing him against the floor.

"You are still there, aren't you?" the dinosaur hissed, and grabbed Daniel's hair to yank his head up from the floor. "Speak!"

Daniel didn't know what'd happen if he'd let the dinosaur use the hand device for a second time. All he wanted was to prevent that from ever happening again. The stargate... He couldn't let them know about the stargate... but did the Goa'uldosaurs even know what stargates were, anyway? Daniel had to say something. He had to come up with a story. A good one. Think fast, even through the pain...

"We... We came in a ship," he gasped out. "A ship that's cloaked."

"As simple as that? And you would take all this torment just to keep that knowledge to yourself?"

"Yes, yes, I would," Daniel stuttered, suddenly coming up with something that'd let him know what Rrragrathssh knew. "And I did, because... Because there's a stargate on board the ship."

"Stargate? A stargate inside a ship?" the dinosaur let go of Daniel's hair. Grateful, he rested his cheek against the cold floor. But his story hadn't been good enough. "No, such a thing is not possible," Rrragrathssh declared.

The Goa'uldosaur knew what a stargate was, then - of course he did, since he had the Goa'uld genetic memory. But his memories were from the distant past, since the contact between this world and the other Goa'ulds had been completely cut. It seemed that in that distant past, no Goa'uld had figured out that a gate could be positioned in a ship. Which was bad, really bad, for Daniel.

"You take me for a fool, human, and I will not suffer it," Rrragrathssh growled, and for the fourth time in all too short a time, the zat-like pain of the hand device hit Daniel. Mercifully, he blacked out right away, so he never found out how long it went on.

  


* * *

  


The strangest team Sam had ever commanded arrived on P4X-215 just in time to prove yet another sunrise of the very Sun-like star that the planet orbited. They saw no sign of O'Neill and Daniel, and no clue as to where those two might've gone, so they decided to go where their friends had been supposed to go. The Tok'ra-dinosaur, the dinosaur, the Jaffa and the human marched into the jungle again. Barney lead the way, with Denver jogging along close by.

They reached the rebel camp in an hour, and found that it was completely empty, abandoned. It didn't look like anyone had been there in a while. All the fireplaces were filled with mud mixed with ash, courtesy of last evening's rain. There were things, like food and cups, lying here and there on the ground. To their dismay, they also noticed that SG-1's tents had been partially torn apart, and a few tables had been turned around, the things on them scattered to the ground. It looked as if something, or someone had been wreaking havoc, turning the place upside down, for some reason.

"Okay, what's happened here?" Sam thought aloud.

Teal'c had already put his nose near the mud to look for footprints, but it was no good. The rain had washed away whatever tracks there might've been, so they couldn't be sure Daniel and O'Neill had been here at all. Of course, the lack of recent footprints said that no one else had been here either, not since the previous evening's rain.

By the look of it, they had more than just two people missing. Aside from the fact that a campful of rebel dinos had left their dwelling and disappeared without a trace, Leo Ramsey was nowhere to be seen either.

"Barney, any ideas?" she called out to the Tok'ra-dinosaur, who was examining the entrance to the camp between the two boulders, together with his younger dinosaur friend.

Barney had already learned to respond to the name the humans had picked for him. He turned around to face Sam, and gestured with his hand that she should get closer.

"It is quite obvious, and this here confirms it," Barney began, pointing at a particular spot on one of the large rocks. To Sam, it only looked like a random darker patch, but apparently, it meant something to Barney. As Sam gazed at it, she realized it wasn't natural after all, but painted, with some kind of a dark paint, or maybe drawn with charcoal.

"The others found out that the ruler's guards were approaching, and fled," the Tok'ra-dinosaur continued. 

That, of course, explained why the camp looked like it had been abandoned in haste, and turned upside-down. The ruler's guards must have found it. SG-1 and Denver had run into a party of guards just the other day, during their dino safari. Maybe the guards had somehow found their tracks. This could be all their fault. But Barney didn't seem to think about that at all, didn't seem to blame anyone. And the good thing was, at least the rebels had been able to flee. They wouldn't have put that mark there if they'd been caught. And O'Neill, Daniel and Leo had probably followed the rebel dinosaurs.

"We have known this might come to pass, so we planned our escape routes well. There are several hideouts in the rainforest." Barney tapped the dark patch with a claw, "This here is a sign, a code symbol, that lets us know which one they have retreated to. I'll take you there."

"This is good news, Ghhrrwuaghr," Teal'c said, making an effort to use the dinosaur's true name. "Yet, it does not explain why Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson have failed to answer our calls."

"It does not, and there is much else it does not tell. It merely says that my people attempted to escape to a particular site. They may or may not have made it there. The only way to find out is to go there. Come, I shall lead the way."

The dinosaurs ran ahead, out of the camp, through the passage between the boulders, into the jungle - two small dark shadows fleeting between the trees and bushes. The humans followed, far clumsier, less at home in the thick green forest, but doing all they could to keep up with their agile guides.

  


* * *

  


Teal'c was not used to feeling slow and clumsy. He had run cross country on many planets and in very different terrains. The dinosaurs, however, were much smaller and lighter than he, and knew the ways of this jungle, knew which plants were pliable and gave way easily, which trees had large roots, and so on. Teal'c tried to imitate their movements, but it was not easy. Yet they were all making their way through the rainforest faster than ever before. That was why Teal'c could not exactly estimate the distance between the abandoned rebel camp and the hideout, which they found after an hour and a half of running.

This hideout was nothing like the original camp. It was far smaller, but more sheltered. They met several rebel dinosaurs at the shore of a wide jungle river. These were the guards patrolling the perimeter, as the hideout was on a long, narrow island. They had to cross the river to reach it. Though the current of the surprisingly warm brownish water did not feel strong to Teal'c, the dinosaurs seemed to have a hard time with it, lighter as they were. Any attacking dinosaurs would be greatly slowed down by it, and the camp was also completely invisible to any onlookers on the shore.

There were hardly any artificial constructions in the hideout. Merely one large circle of stones with a continuously burning fire, and two canopies to provide shelter from rain to items that would not take it. As the rebel dinosaurs shared a smaller space than in the previous camp, it looked as if there were more of them. The one solitary human stood out among them, both because he was taller, and because his gray hair and pale skin almost seemed to gleam among all the green scales and plants.

As the dinosaurs gathered around Barney, eager to learn what had happened to him, Doctor Ramsey ran to Teal'c and Captain Carter. He seemed quite disheveled, his hair greasy and sticking into odd directions, his clothes covered with mud - but there was still a boyish look of excitement on his face.

"Finally!" Doctor Ramsey greeted them. "I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me, or just decided to get rid of me once and for all!"

"We did no such thing, Doctor Ramsey," Teal'c answered him. "We only needed time to deal with Barney's injuries. The manner in which we did this was unusual, but now he is fine. But are Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson not here with you?"

Ramsey frowned, expressing his surprise at the question. "O'Neill and Jackson? No, I'm all alone here. It'd barely been a quarter of an hour since you two left to the gate, when all the dinos suddenly went nuts, and started running out of the camp. A few of them dragged me with them, and we came here. I've been here ever since. I've got to say, I've gotten along with the dinos pretty well, and this location by the river is just perfect. You know, the things I've seen - I've counted fifty different species, can you believe it, fifty!"

"This must wait, Doctor Ramsey," Teal'c told him sternly, his words almost overlapped by those of Captain Carter.

The anxiety was clear on her face, as she exclaimed, "No sign of the colonel and Daniel? None at all?"

"I thought they were with you! I haven't seen them ever since they left to take Barney back to Earth, what was it, not last night but the one before that."

Just as Teal'c and Captain Carter turned to exchange worried glances, Barney hurried towards them, pushing his way past the other dinosaurs. "We must make haste! I fear our friends are in grave danger," he growled in his strange English.

"What? You know what's happened to them?" Captain Carter asked impatiently.

"As they retreated, my rebel friends left a few scouts behind, to keep an eye on the camp. They were skilled enough not to get caught, and they witnessed a party of Rrragrathssh's guards enter our abandoned camp. They left it with two prisoners. Two humans."

"Rrrag..." Captain Carter tried to make out the name. "You don't mean, the ruler? The Goa'uldosaur?"

"Indeed," Teal'c clarified it for her.

"Oh, no," she uttered.

"The ruler has wished nothing as much as to get some of your kind in his claws again. We must get Daniel and Jack out of there soon! If Rrragrathssh has not killed them right away, then they are likely to suffer greatly."

Carter nodded, looking determined now. She knew that worrying would not get their friends out. "If they're in the temple, then we'll need a very good plan to get them out - but we don't have a lot of time for making plans, just getting to the temple will take up to eight hours."

"There is a plan, or the beginning of one," Ranys, the Tok'ra symbiote spoke up. "But it will require assistance from Earth, including a significant amount of manpower."

"Then we'll get that. The general will grant it. He's got to. Let's get back to the gate right away, we can work on the details as we run," Captain Carter decided the course of action.

"This time, I'm coming with you," Doctor Ramsey added.

  


* * *

  


The first rays of the rising sun fell on Daniel's face, revealing to Jack how sick his unconscious friend looked. Daniel's skin was pale enough to match the light gray of the stone floor. The dinos had come to drop him back in the cage an hour ago, and he was completely unresponsive again. Jack had known to expect that. But unlike first time, now there was no way anyone could've mistaken Daniel for someone who was just asleep. The frown on his brow still showed a trace of how bad the dino hand device hit must've felt like. His breathing didn't sound normal, but shallow and restless. 

For the umpteenth time, Jack placed two fingers on Daniel's carotid artery and took time with his watch, counting the rapid beat. Around 120 - slower than the last time he'd taken it, but still way too fast for someone who'd been unconscious for over an hour. Jack couldn't help worrying, young and healthy though Daniel was. Such continuous stress just couldn't be good for anyone.

Jack had done pretty much all he could think of, which wasn't a lot. He'd found some new claw marks, on Daniel's back and on the back of his head, but they all looked superficial. The actual torture was the hand device, not the claws. The ruler was probably used to handling dinosaurs, not humans. From Barney's injuries, Jack had learned that a dino could take a tremendous amount of painful cuts and still be able to crawl a long distance in the jungle, and survive far longer than a human would. The pure, simple pain of the zat-like hand device might be more effective on dinos. On humans, too, in a way, but at least Daniel wasn't going to bleed to death.

As Jack waited, and waited, and watched the dino guards come and go, the sleepless night of terrible waiting started getting to him. The sun climbed slowly higher, the first, gentle rays turning into a promise of the scorching heat that was to come. They'd have no shelter from the direct noon sunlight. For now, the warmth was still pleasant, and Jack found himself starting to nod.

Daniel was looking slightly better. His face was still pale and haunted, but at least his vitals had finally returned to near normal. He might wake up soon, or not. At least he'd probably not take a turn to the worse. Jack could take a nap. If he'd get a few hours of sleep, he'd be better prepared to escape when help came. Because it would come. He was sure of it. The real question was, how soon.

Jack lay down on the cool stone floor, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

He woke up at around noon, when the sunshine blazing on his face finally got too hot. He put on his cap and his sunglasses. Daniel was still out, and didn't wake up, no matter how Jack shouted and shook him. Jack placed Daniel's boonie halfway over his face, to give him at least some cover from the sun.

Though he didn't feel even remotely hungry, Jack had a lonely breakfast or lunch or whatever. He'd have more energy to make a run for it that way. He was just considering whether he should have a cookie for dessert, when Daniel groaned, announcing that he was finally waking up.

Jack crouched to his friend's side. "Daniel? You with me?"

"Sorta..." Daniel said in a hoarse whisper, and licked his lips. "Water?"

Jack realized that Daniel had to be really thirsty, especially with this intolerable sunshine, and helped him to a sip from the canteen.

"Was it the same as before? Two hand device-zats?" Jack asked, hating himself for forcing his friend to return to those thoughts, but he needed to know.

"Worse," Daniel's anguished tone made Jack's heart sink. "Longer blasts," Daniel added.

"Daniel, I think we have morphine in the first aid kit, would you..." Jack began, and Daniel quickly nodded his reply, eyes closed, lips pursed. If the after effects were this painful, Jack didn't even want to imagine what the actual hit must have felt like.

When Jack busied himself with searching for the auto-injector, Daniel spoke up again. "Jack - next time they take me, I'm not going to make it," he uttered softly, keeping long pauses between words, sounding so desperate that it made the hair stand up on the back of Jack's neck. "Jack, you can make a run for it. When they open the door. Run and climb down, you have rope, right?"

"Daniel, shush!" Jack told him firmly, straightening the hat on his head. "I'll do no such thing. Of course you'll make it, and I'll be right here waiting for you."

  


* * *

  


Daniel might not be dead yet, but he surely was in hell. Every inch of his body hurt. Though it was not the intense pain of the actual hit, it was still awful. So bad he could barely think. The suffocating heat of the blaring sun made it worse. He wouldn't be able to run. If they'd have the chance to escape, Jack would have to do it alone. And he was sure he'd not be able to take any more of those hand device hits.

As the effects of the morphine slowly kicked in, the pain turned into a dull ache, much like what it'd been the first time. The drug definitely didn't make thinking any easier, though. After a while Daniel couldn't even make out Jack's face anymore, it was all a blur.

And then the dinosaurs came, and stepped into the cage, and though the fair and honest truth was that Daniel was as good as unconscious, they took him anyway. Tore him up by the arms, and hauled him out. He couldn't even stand, let alone walk, so his feet dragged along the ground. He heard Jack shouting after them, sounding angry.

When they reached the throne room, the guards let go of Daniel, and he sagged to the floor. He heard Rrragrathssh speak, but he couldn't concentrate enough to be able to understand one word of that wretched growling.

Only when the ruler grabbed the bandaging on Daniel's upper body to lift him from the floor, so that they faced each other directly, Daniel heard him say, "You disappoint me, human. Speak now, while you still can."

But Daniel couldn't.

And the blue flash struck him again, and the pain, the lighting, the fire...

  


* * *

  


Daniel's ominous words kept ringing in Jack's ears. "Jack - next time they take me, I'm not going to make it," he had said. But he had to make it. He'd made it every time before, survived lethal staff weapon blasts and Tyrannosaur attacks and sarcophagus addiction and more bad things than Jack cared to think about. No way Daniel was going to die at the hands of this Goa'uldosaur, a creature mad enough that even the other Goa'ulds had thrown its ancestor out of their club of evil maniacs.

Jack tried to pass time by figuring out when help was most likely to arrive. It was now 1600 hours. He and Daniel had left Earth yesterday, early in the morning. They'd been supposed to report back in a few hours, which they'd failed to do. The folks back home would've started getting worried by the evening. Maybe they'd waited for the morning before they'd returned to Dinoland for the search and rescue, but even then, if they'd had any luck in tracing the two of them, they should show up soon. But maybe something unexpected had come up. Anything could've happened. Still, Jack didn't think it completely unreasonable to expect that help would arrive soon. Tonight. Only tonight might be too late for Daniel.

The last hours Jack had spent with Daniel, he'd been afraid of when the dinos would return, and had hated every time they showed up. Now, he was anxious to see them back. If they returned, if they brought Daniel back, then he'd have to be alive. There just wouldn't be any point in keeping a dead body in a cage.

After an hour of restless pacing around the limited space, Jack caught the sound of approaching dinos. He peered through the bars, and his knees almost failed him at the relief. The dinos really were carrying Daniel back.

Jack knew what to expect, so that when the dinos dropped his friend like a sack of potatoes, he was able to catch him before he hit the floor. Jack lowered Daniel down gently, noting that his face looked white compared to the gray stone below his head. His breathing sounded fast and shallow, and this time, his skin was cool to the touch. Jack could see the signs of shock which he had been fearing all along. He felt for a pulse - it was weak and irregular, fluttering almost too fast to be countable at all. And then he lost it. He kept his fingers in place, but there was nothing. That awful realization hit Jack like a punch to the gut.

"Daniel, no, you're not gonna do this to me!" he cried out, feverishly trying to think back about all the first aid training he'd had. He wasn't just going to let Daniel die, no way, if there was anything he could do.

He fisted his hand above Daniel's chest, over those cuts he'd bandaged himself just hours ago. He wasn't sure this was such a good idea. Grimacing at himself, eyes partly closed, he hit his friend in the chest, one carefully placed sharp blow on the lower part of the sternum. Like he'd been taught years and years ago.

Jack forced his fist to open, and placed his badly shaking fingers at Daniel's throat again - and - thank God, that had actually done the trick! It wasn't just his fingers trembling, it was there again, a heartbeat, rapid but steadier than before. And by the sound of it, Daniel had resumed breathing on his own, too. Jack felt like fainting from the sheer relief of it.

"That's it. Good job, keep it up," Jack patted Daniel's chest lightly, and sat back, struggling to catch his own breath.

Help really had better come soon, he thought, as he covered Daniel with his jacket. The sun was already low on the sky, the shadows long. The rain would start soon. And again, all Jack could do was wait.

There was no sign of any help. Instead, though Jack couldn't have imagined it was possible anymore, things seemed to be getting even worse. He cursed under his breath when he heard the dual growl of a Goa'uldosaur from afar, and then, the approaching clawed footsteps. A party of three dinos was walking towards the cage. One of them had a zat gun, and it spoke in that Goa'uld voice. It had to be the ruler.

The Goa'uldosaur turned the key in the lock and opened the cage door. Jack stood up, placing himself protectively over Daniel in a fighting stance, his hands clenched in fists. He'd fight the damn lizards with his bare hands if he'd have to, but by God he'd not let them take his friend away ever again - they'd only get to Daniel over his dead body.

But the dinosaurs didn't attack. Instead, the Goa'uldosaur shook his head, an eerily human gesture, and made another very human gesture with his hands, raising them soothingly.

"Fear not. It is I, Barney," the dinosaur said, without the Goa'uld tone this time, in perfectly understandable English.

  


* * *

  


Barney/Ranys's plan had been far wilder than anything Sam could've come up with, she really had to give the Tok'ra-dinosaur credit for that. Barney had wanted to know if the humans happened to have any means of getting someone to the temple roof. Sam had told him about grappling hooks that could be attached to ropes, which Barney had found to be a magnificent invention.

As Sam hid behind the thick trunk of a tree to reload, she wondered if Barney had already made it to the roof and found her missing team mates. She, Teal'c and all the other men General Hammond had been able to send at such a very short notice were storming the temple, attacking the entrance directly. They were going to do their best to take down as many of the ruler's guards as possible. Leo had finally returned to Earth, realizing that he'd just be on the way in such a battle.

In the meantime, Barney, Denver and a few other rebel dinosaurs had made their way past the guards, armed with zat guns, attempting to get directly to the roof. Once there, Barney would easily be able to trick the guards into letting him go, even giving him the keys to the cage. After all, there weren't that many Goa'uldosaurs on the planet, and Barney would easily pass for one, with Ranys's kind assistance.

Sam couldn't linger on the thoughts and the worry over her friends, both human and dinosaur. She felt the ground tremble with the heavy footsteps of some great beast. She left the shelter of the tree, and saw that on the opening in front of the temple, a pair of guards were driving forth a Tyrannosaur, guiding it towards SG-2, who stood at the edge of the opening, struggling with at least ten guards already.

"Teal'c! The T-Rex," Sam called out, and the Jaffa cast her a quick glance and a nod, acknowledging that he'd noticed. The monstrous dinosaur wasn't exactly easy to miss.

After their previous mission to this planet, they'd learned from Colonel O'Neill that the way to take down one of these huge dinosaurs was to hit the vulnerable parts on its head. Teal'c aimed his staff weapon carefully, and Sam did the same with her gun. She wasn't sure whether they were getting anywhere, but at least they annoyed the dinosaur enough that it turned away from SG-2, and changed its direction. Sam kept her aim steady, ignoring the fact that the huge creature was rushing straight towards her. It felt like staring at a speeding train while standing on the tracks.

Just when she thought they weren't going to get it, when the dinosaur's huge snout was already brushing the leaves above their heads, it went down. She and Teal'c stepped aside to avoid getting caught under it, as it hit the dirt with a ground-shaking thud.

Using the corpse as cover, she glanced at the opening to get a general view of the situation. Apparently, the dinos were taken aback when their biggest asset had actually been taken down. They were gathering closer to the temple entrance, backing away.

Sam and Teal'c made their way past the dead Tyrannosaur and joined the other SG-teams, surrounding the dinosaurs. There were now so many guns pointed at the guards that they didn't even try to fight. Most of the dinos were unarmed, though some had spears and crude bows. As they started retreating into the doorway, Sam called out, "Don't let them escape! Fire at will!"

It was crucial to Barney's plan that they'd take down as many guards as possible. The dinos could take many more bullets than a human would, but they weren't invulnerable. Many of them fell. It was brutal, it was as close to a massacre as Sam had ever come. After she'd gotten to know Barney, there was no way she could trick herself into thinking that these were just lizards and animals. They were sentient beings, and who knew how they'd have ended up without the continued Goa'uld rule.

When there were no living guards left outside the temple, the SG-teams ceased their gunfire. A wave of dinosaurs that looked just like the guards stepped out of the jungle around them, and approached them. Some of the men pointed their guns at the newcomers in turn, but Sam told them to stand down. These were the rebels.

"Look carefully," she told everyone else. "They've got those thick stripes of white paint on their snouts. Any dinosaur that has one of those is our friend. Don't shoot, no matter what. There will be a few dinosaurs in there who don't have those markings, but are nevertheless friendly. Take care, think and look carefully before you shoot."

She gave some more orders, leaving two teams outside the temple in case more guards should come, and then lead the rest into the temple. The dinosaurs followed them as well.

The hall they entered looked very familiar. They'd been here before, after all. Though this wasn't the hall where Teal'c and Sam had gotten sealed in, it was the one where Daniel and O'Neill had been. Two doorways lead into two other halls. Sam knew the first of them had stairs leading down, into the catacombs. The second one should have a door that'd open to the throne room, though it might be closed.

They ran into that room, meeting little resistance, just some guards that'd retreated in. They found no door in any of the walls, but Barney had told them to expect that. One of the rebels stepped forth, carrying a small device of some sort, and waved it in front of a wall. A part of the wall slid aside to reveal the enormous hall that was the throne room, and a scene amazing enough to make Sam stop on her tracks.

The door was behind the throne, to the right of it, and in front of it stood two dinosaurs engaged in combat. There were several other dinos in the hall, and all but those two were standing still in a wide circle around them. There a few dead dinosaurs in the room as well, lying on the ground here and there.

Almost in the middle of the room, on the ground, were O'Neill and Daniel. The younger man looked very still and pale, his eyes closed. His upper body was bare except for bloodstained bandages. The colonel was holding on to him tightly, Daniel's head resting against his shoulder. Sam felt her breath catch in her throat as she took in that sight. "Oh, no," she whispered under her breath.

The SG-teams and the rebels crowded into the hall, but Sam held up a hand to keep them from engaging in any action. They spread out, joining the gathered dinosaurs, and all stopped to witness the struggle in front of them.

One of the two dinosaurs that were fighting was obviously the ruler. He had a golden circlet on his head, and a hand device, but for some reason, he wasn't using it. The dinosaur fighting the ruler had to be Barney. He had the belt with the zat gun that the SGC had given to him, to make it even easier for him to pose as a Goa'uldosaur. But he wasn't using the zat either.

A rebel dinosaur close to them growled something at Teal'c, and Teal'c translated it to Sam. "They will fight to the death, and the one who wins will be the rightful ruler. It is tradition. If Barney wins, no one will question his right to rule."

  


* * *

  


Teal'c had witnessed many fights to the death before, but none like this. Even though use of all weapons was banned, the dinosaurs still had plenty at hand - their teeth and claws. Both were bleeding from more cuts than he could count, but they were steady on their feet, still fighting, growling at each other in Dinosaurian and Goa'uldian voices and languages in turn.

It was an even fight. The dinosaurs were about the same age. Barney had the advantage of being slightly larger, and his Tok'ra symbiote might be better versed in different combat techniques than the ruler's Goa'uld, who had lived in isolation on this planet. On the other hand, Barney had the disadvantage of being weakened by his recent injuries.

If Barney lost, then there would be another riot, a general fight among all those in the hall. That was why the rebels all had markings to tell them apart from those loyal to the ruler. If it came to such a fight, the rebels and the SG-teams easily outnumbered the ruler's followers, but it would be ugly, and many would die.

Barney did not lose. He turned the course of the fight with one blow that hit the side of the ruler's head badly enough to blind him. It stopped Rrragrathssh for a passing moment, and with that moment, Barney was able to finish him, tearing a long, deep cut down his neck. The ruler fell to the ground, his growling changed into wet groaning as his blood flowed freely to stain the floor at the foot of the throne. Barney placed a foot on the ruler's head, pressing it to the ground.

"In this day, I, Ghhrrwuaghr, claim the rule of this world, all its animals and this chosen people, and as is tradition, I shall rule for a whole cycle of the moon before anyone can challenge me again," Barney announced victoriously, first in Goa'uld-Dinosaurian, and then went on in Dinosaurian, probably repeating the same words.

The rebels answered it in a joyful, excited roar. Some of the former ruler's guards growled as if they wanted to fight, but they didn't. They realized that they were hopelessly outnumbered. It would be up to Barney and the rebels to decide how to deal with them. Teal'c's concern was now for his friends.

Not only he and Captain Carter, but Barney as well ran to Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson.

"Way to go, guys, that was some rescue operation," O'Neill greeted them, and though his voice was strained, it was not as grief-stricken as Teal'c would've expected if Daniel Jackson was dead. Apparently, he was not, only severely injured and unconscious. "And good job, Barney. That damn Goa'uldosaur finally got what he deserved."

"Is Daniel..." Captain Carter began, crouching to the ground in front of them.

"He's been out cold for hours. The bastards wouldn't leave him alone. The ruler tortured him. Used the hand device on him who knows how many times. We need to get him back home and fast," Colonel O'Neill answered urgently.

He made to get up, and Teal'c lent him a hand. Captain Carter was already working to put together a collapsible stretcher to help in transporting Daniel.

A nerve-racking, sorrowful roar from behind made them all freeze. They turned around, and saw Barney crouched over one of the dead dinosaurs. There weren't many injuries on the body, and none that looked lethal. More likely, he had been taken down with a zat gun. As Teal'c gazed at the deceased dinosaur, he recognized him as Denver. The young, kind and gentle rebel had become one of the many casualties of this battle. It was a noble death. The fight had been more than just to save O'Neill and Daniel. It had been to liberate the dinosaurs from Goa'uld rule as well, and it had been a success.

  


* * *

  


The dual voice of a Goa'uldosaur penetrated the half-conscious haze where Daniel had been floating for some indeterminable time. He was instantly wide awake. If the ruler was still talking to him, then he couldn't have been unconscious for a very long time. He opened his eyes, and saw the blurred figure of a dinosaur not far from him. The dinosaur spoke again, and pushed its face closer to his. Daniel shrank back from it. Why wouldn't the ruler just leave him alone? Wasn't it clear enough that he'd die rather than tell anything?

"Daniel?" the dinosaur said. Daniel frowned. He hadn't thought the ruler could pronounce his name at all. He felt a soft touch on his forehead, not claws, but a snout. There was something strangely familiar about that feeling. "It is all right," the dinosaur added - in English, of all things, and it didn't sound Goa'uldish anymore.

"Daniel?" someone repeated his name again, but the voice was not dinosaurian. It was familiar. The voice he'd heard just before they'd taken him. Jack! Jack's hand landed on his shoulder, just like back in the cage. "Daniel, relax, it's okay. You're home."

Daniel blinked, trying make sense of the two blurs that looked like Jack and a dinosaur. There seemed to be other people behind them. Out of thin air, his glasses appeared on his nose. Or not out of thin air, since it was clearly Jack pushing them in place. The surroundings fell into focus. It wasn't just Jack and a dinosaur, but also Sam, Teal'c, and Leo Ramsey.

It all added up. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even feel like he was lying on the floor of the Goa'uldosaurian throne room. He wasn't hurting anymore. There was a soft pillow under his head, and the sheet covering him was warm and thick. Then there were other little things that didn't fit, like the needle in his arm, the patches on his chest and the oxygen things in his nose that were a sure sign that he was in the infirmary.

"Do you not recognize me, Daniel?" the dinosaur asked.

Now that he could see properly, he actually could recognize the dinosaur. Daniel licked his parched lips, cleared his throat, and tried, "Ghhrrwuaghr?" The way it came out, he could've been just growling anything. It didn't sound anything like the dinosaur's name.

"Yes, it is I," the dinosaur answered nevertheless. "But it is a new me that you have not yet met. I am now also Ranys, of the Tok'ra. You saved my life."

"What happened?" Daniel asked, his English sounding barely any better than his Dinosaurian. All in all, he felt groggy, but not nearly as bad as he should've expected. Considering that the last memories he had were of the ruler zatting him with the hand device, and he'd been certain he'd not survive one more of those prolonged blasts.

"Barney saved our asses. Though, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have succeeded without Teal'c and Sam. Oh, and we freed the dinos, too," Jack explained simply.

Daniel could barely believe that. "Really? No more Goa'uldosaurs?" he asked, and made to sit up on his bed. He didn't get very far, though. His muscles weren't doing what he told them to. All he managed was a slight twitch.

Jack's hand pressed his shoulder gently. "Take it easy, Daniel. You've been out for over two days," he said.

"Huh?" That long? He'd never been out for more than some hours after the zat-hand device blasts before this.

"Yeah, well, most of that is probably courtesy of Doc Fraiser, she insisted on keeping you sedated. Didn't want you to go through any unnecessary stress."

"But I'm..."

"Doc seemed pretty concerned at first, but she says you're going to be fine. No lasting effects, unless it's some scars from all those claw marks. If all goes well, you should be out of here in less than a week. She said you'd probably feel a bit weird when you woke up, but that it's to be expected, it's just all the drugs."

Daniel nodded, and turned his head to look at Ghhrrwuaghr. "So, I still owe you one," he smirked at the dinosaur.

"You helped set my people free. You do not owe me anything," the dinosaur answered. "Now that I have seen you wake up, I'm reassured enough that you will be fine again. I shall soon return to my world. We have much work ahead."

"I can imagine," Daniel said, his voice sounding stronger already, at least to his ears. "You'll... You have to start from scratch, redefine yourselves, your society, all that you are."

"It will be challenging, but it will also be rewarding. We shall be the people that we should always have been, instead of the pawns of some alien parasite. Of course, I now represent that very race of alien parasites. As is tradition, I must rule for one cycle of the moon, but after all is settled, I hope to stand aside. The Tok'ra may have use for me as well."

"Ghhrrwuaghr, there's something, something very important you must do." It came to Daniel in a sudden flash of intuition. The thing that was most important of all. The stargate. The one amazing secret of Dinoland was the strange fact that the gate seemed to be unknown to most beings in the universe. He didn't know how that could be, since the address had been on the Abydos Cartouche. But whatever the reason, it must always stay that way. "You have to bury the gate. To keep anyone from ever coming there again to disturb you. The Tok'ra have ships and other means of keeping in touch with you."

"I know this already, Daniel. I have spoken of it with others, with Jack, Teal'c and Sam. Leo, as well."

Daniel had completely forgotten about the paleontologist. "Oh. I'm sorry, Leo," he said quickly. They'd given the man his dream, a place with living dinosaurs, and now they were going to take it away again.

"No, don't be," Leo replied. There was something strange about his tone, oddly pleased. "I'm going back to Dinoland with Barney."

"But the gate..."

"The gate will be buried. I'll be on my own. I know. You did the same when you stayed on Abydos, didn't you? I've already been given the official permission for this. I'll manage. It's all an aging paleontologist could possibly hope for. I'll spend the rest of my days there, and leave my notes with the dinosaurs, so some day, someone may collect them. Although I am leaving behind the work I've already done. My studies on the newly found species, Neotroodon Sapiens Stellaris."

Daniel grinned. Leo had finally decided on a name for Barney's species. It was a bit long, but then again, just Neotroodon would work fine, and they could even use it in public. Just introduce this as a new species found somewhere far away, not mentioning that it was Sapiens - as in, wise, and Stellaris - from the stars.

"We both thank you, from the bottom of our heart, Daniel," Ghhrrwuaghr added. "It is thanks to you, more than anyone else, that our lives have been completely changed, and all to the better."

Daniel didn't know what to say to that. He just blushed at it. Leo reached for his heavy, somewhat lax hand and shook it firmly. Ghhrrwuaghr bent closer to give him another dino kiss. And then they left, leaving him in the company of his three team mates.

"He's right, you know," Sam said softly, now stepping closer to him, grasping his hand. "You were the one who requested for another mission to P4X-215 in the first place, and for a mission specialist. Without that, none of this would've happened. No paleontologist would ever have learned of their dream come true."

"And if it was not for your compassion for Barney, and swift thinking in contacting the Tok'ra, he would not have survived to see this day," Teal'c added in his steady, deep voice.

"But I..." Daniel tried, but Jack stopped him again.

"Shush, just take the praise as it is. You went through hell because you wanted to help these dinos. I know, because I was there, I saw it all. It's just fair that you should get some credit for it too."

"Jack, I'm sure I wouldn't have made it without you. And neither of us would've made it if Sam and Teal'c and Ghhrrwuaghr hadn't done whatever they did to get us out. But what about Grruarch - I mean, Denver - wasn't he there too?"

Daniel saw the others exchange troubled glances, which almost told him enough without any words at all. He frowned at them, the bad news making him feel even more uncomfortable about the earlier praise.

"She didn't make it, Daniel," Sam said sadly, confirming his fears.

"But her death was a noble one, and she shall be remembered as a hero among her people," Teal'c added.

"She?" Daniel repeated, confused. Of course, the Goa'uld-Dinosaurian language did not have grammatical gender. The pronouns for 'he' and 'she' were exactly the same. But he'd thought...

"Aha," Jack replied. "We had more than enough time to talk about things with Barney when you were asleep, so we finally found out. Barney's a boy, but Denver was a girl."

"She wasn't his..." Daniel started, feeling even worse about it. He'd seen how close the two dinosaurs had been, how Grruarch had always stayed near to Ghhrrwuaghr when he had been injred.

"...his mate? No, she was his niece," Jack answered. "They're considering making a statue of her, a memorial of the victory over the Goa'uld. Might be that some of us will be in it too. Probably you. Though, since they're going to bury the gate, they might have to use Leo as the model."

The dinos making a statue of him? With Leo posing as him? Sad though Daniel was, that was just so completely ridiculous that he couldn't help laughing. "You're kidding, right?"

Jack smirked, and ruffled Daniel's hair. "Yeah, of course I am," he admitted. "The truth is, we wouldn't let them do that. So, we gave them your picture."


End file.
